The List Issue 794

As much as we tried to avoid the O word in our coverage during August, now that we’ve finally reached September in just about one whole piece, the F word is even more worthy of being sidestepped. Further elucidation on those initials, if it’s needed, won’t be offered up. Onwards and upwards, right? With daylight dimming a little earlier, suncreams being recycled en masse (if that’s even a thing), and nuts and berries getting squirreled away, it’s almost time for that annual tradition of flicking through the gig guides to see which acts haven’t quite sold out yet.

Anticipating this trend, we’ve put together a barrage of coverage featuring live music to enjoy between now and the beginning of winter (which, for our purposes, we’ve concluded is the bitter end of November). We analyse the riddle/puzzle/enigma that is The Beta Band, that quintessentially awkwardsquad Scottish quartet who were namechecked by John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity, shone incredibly brightly for a relatively brief period, did their best to sabotage all they’d achieved, and have returned so many years later to find that they can sell out two dates at Barrowlands with the minimum of publicity or fuss. Quite impressive really.

Also impressive are our cover stars the Nova Twins (not actual twins; not even related, just pals) who have done everything in their power as black women playing rock music to break down barriers and open up opportunities for others. We also look at hardcore fest Core, find out what’s on for jazz fans, and cobble together a set of 25 other acts who are on the touring circuit.

We have a whole heap of other music-related goings-on across the mag such as marking the tenth anniversary of Max Richter’s Sleep project, looking at musicals about Steps and Tina Turner, and talking to the organiser of the Ando Glaso Roma Fest, while our radio pal Vic Galloway picks a trio of gigs that will get him (and you lot) revved up for the month ahead.

Brian Donaldson EDITOR

Ailsa Sheldon, Brian Donaldson, Claire Sawers, Craig McLean, Danny Munro, David Kirkwood, Donald Reid, Eddie Harrison, Emma Simmonds, Eve Connor, Evie Glen, Fiona Shepherd, Garry Sullivan, Greg Thomas, Isy Santini, James Mottram, Jan Patience, Jay Richardson, Jay Thundercliffe, Jo Laidlaw, Katherine McLaughlin, Kelly Apter, Kevin Fullerton, Lauren McKay, Louise Holland, Marcas Mac an Tuairneir, Megan Merino, Murray Robertson, Neil Cooper, Paul McLean, Rebecca Crockett, Rob Adams, Rodger Evans, Suzy Pope, Vic Galloway

ANDO GLASO ROMA FESTIVAL

front

Jmouthpiece

ulian Fellowes’ Upstairs Downstairs rip-off has been like an outreach programme for struggling posho thesps, giving their plummy accents a much-needed leg-up since 2010 with its combination of plush interiors, soap-opera plotting and boot-licker’s passion for primogeniture. I’ve never been a fan; I always assumed that the average Downton Abbey viewer got a feverish erection every time the word ‘balustrade’ was uttered on a National Trust walking tour.

My suspicion was based on nothing more than a cartoonish prejudice at flag-shagging, golden-age fantasists who think aspirational programming involves imagining you’re Hugh Bonneville’s butler. I hadn’t even watched a full episode. As the Downton saga is coming to an end this month with the feature-length Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, I might as well finally try to fathom its appeal. But there’s no way that a class-sensitive liberal with a barely comprehensible Scottish accent like me will appreciate it, so I’ve decided to view the show’s pilot episode from two perspectives, which I’ll inhabit with the verisimilitude of Ed Gein in a skin suit: one a 19thcentury Yorkshire miner who exclusively drinks bitter and liquified Hovis; and the other a money-lined aristocrat who’s prone to snorting ivory powder as a sexual aid.

First up, the miner: ‘Ay’up, ducky. Ah’ve put me ’ovis in a blender so ah can enjoy a pint of wholegrain with me Downton. Ooh ducky, ah wish ah could live in an ’ouse as big as that there owned by Sir Bonnyveele. Even if ah was a reet

The Downton Abbey franchise is drawing to a close at the cinema this month, but what does our regular columnist make of the manor houseadmiring Bates-athon? Using the art of method acting, Kevin Fullerton dives into the pilot episode

smelly servant, ah could at least finger a trinket or two (ah do have a fancy for fingerin’). Ooft, that ’ovis is going down reet smooth with me bitter. Ah love that reet quiet lad Mr Bates and his friendship with Bonnyveele, who seems like a lovely man even though he could pay to ’ave Bates killed if he wanted.’ And I’m back, although my breath stinks of soggy bread. After existing in this frighteningly well-realised character for an hour, I understand that, like buying a lottery ticket, there’s a certain appeal in imagining you too could find yourself within reach of untold wealth, and that a few of the alien upper classes may even welcome you with open arms (Bonneville’s unlikely enthusiasm for the increasingly porous attitudes to social class in the 1920s helps reinforce this wish fulfilment).

But what of the peasant-strangling rich? Let’s find out: ‘Tally-ho. It’s been simply divine to snort elephant tusk until I achieve optimal tumescence for Downton. My, how I do enjoy witnessing the poor scrap amongst themselves. It reminds me of the time myself and Henry (my brother who, thanks to my family’s proud history of inbreeding, is also my uncle twice removed) threw money in the air at a local ruffians ale house. My, how we guffawed.’

Perhaps the enduring appeal, despite Fellowes’ priggish writing style, is that the poor can emulate the rich while the rich can continue to vaguely sneer at the poor. In the complicated world of the UK’s social-class system, this Tory Britain Through The Keyhole might actually be about trying to reach across the socio-economic barriers placed before us.

On a poster, one sharply dressed man is carrying a baseball bat. He has a slightly mean look upon his face suggesting that he’s not off for a lovely family game of rounders. Nope, it’s Sylvester Stallone (double points score!) in the advertising campaign for the third season of Tulsa King, a Paramount+ show about a Mafia boss being released from prison after 25 years who opts not to go straight but instead builds a whole new criminal empire. In this new batch of episodes, cool kid Samuel L Jackson

joins the cast. Also on that same streaming platform is Stans, a documentary produced by Eminem (aka the double-point scoring Slim Shady) about superfandom, based on his chilling song and video from way back in 2000. Far more savoury entertainment comes from Artie, he of Singing Kettle fame with a Glasgow Pavilion show this month. Dressing up in tartan may not be obligatory but is certainly encouraged. How else are you going to get into the mood for this (DPS alert!) Scottish Singalong?

PlayList

As the dust settles on another manic August, it’s back to ‘business as usual’ here at List HQ. That means another jam-packed playlist of eclectic September-issue sounds from Nova Twins, Helms Alee, Max Richter, Tina Turner, Big Thief, Wolf Alice, Weather Report, Frankie Miller and lots more . . .

Scan and listen as you read:

from the archive

We look through The List’s back catalogue to see what was making headlines this month in decades gone by

In this instalment of our walk down memory lane, the magazine time machine has taken us back 13 years to 2012 when Talking Heads frontman David Byrne was on the cover, not for music-related purposes but for the release of his book How Music Works. We also spoke to choreographer Michael Clark about returning to Scotland for his performance of New Work: 2012 at Glasgow’s Tramway, and heard from director Rian Johnson about creating Looper, the sophisticated sci-fi thriller starring Bruce Willis.

 Head to list.co.uk/magazine-archive for our past issues.

In this series of articles, we turn the focus back on ourselves by asking folk at The List about recent cultural artefacts that touch their heart and soul. This time around, Louise Holland tells us which things . . .

Made me cry: I’m perhaps a bit late with this, but I’ve just finished A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. What a profound and uniquely engaging novel. I had to stop reading several times because the tears kept coming and I couldn’t see to continue (good tears as well as the sad). It’s magnificent.

Made me angry: I caught the new horror movie Weapons recently. I’m a huge horror fan and the marketing for this was top drawer; couldn’t wait to see it. Then I saw it. I understand what trailers are supposed to do, and the one for Weapons filled the brief, but aye, I really wish Jordan Peele had made it. Without spoiling it, geez ma money back.

Made me laugh: Recently finished Shrinking on Apple TV+. It’s so well written and executed, and the cast consistently shine. It’s relatable, uncomfortable, heartbreaking and beautiful in its simplicity. It’s also one of the funniest shows I’ve watched in years, the kind of funny where you stop making any noise and just make questionable facial expressions: ‘Eat a dick, Pam!’

Made me think: The Sandman is over (sad face) and after the gorgeous finale came a standalone episode that follows the character of Death on her centennial day off. It’s a funny and incredibly moving episode that really prompted me to reevaluate a few of my bitches and moans; so for that, I’m grateful that it exists.

Made me think twice: I recently caught Laura Davis’ Despair Is Beneath Us. There was a section where they discuss talking with pebbles about their issues and the pebbles ‘responded’ with: ‘You think you have problems? We used to be mountains’. I’ve kept that with me. Very grounding.

Festival Awards 2025

Our List Festival Awards hit their second year with a bang, expanding the diversity of categories to further reflect the incredible scale of the Scottish capital’s overbrimming season of art and entertainment. Taking place at Johnnie Walker Princes Street, we invited luminaries of Edinburgh’s cultural scene to help us dole out awards to some of the best artists performing across the city.

Taking home the prize for Best Rising Scottish Artist was Hamish Halley for Please Keep, a poignant video piece that intertwined two narratives: the intimate act of cleaning his grandparents’ home after their passing and the monumental transition of Perth Museum’s collection to a new space. Best Rising Scottish Author was Michael Mullen for his debut collection of poetry, Goonie, which explored queerness through fierce lyricism and vernacular vignettes about Scotland. Best Scottish Film went to Paul Sng’s Reality Is Not Enough, a visually unique and intellectually engaging portrait of the life of Trainspotting writer Irvine Welsh.

Best Comedy Show was Bebe Cave for Christbride, a dark comedy about a woman in a world of male dullards, while Best Dance, Circus & Physical Theatre Show, winner was Small Town Boys, a celebration of the 80s club scene as the AIDs epidemic slowly moves from the peripheries to the centre of many young gay men’s lives. Our Best Show From Adelaide was Smile: The Story Of Charlie Chaplin, a moving portrait of the silent cinema icon’s life and times and Best LGBTQIA+ Show was awarded to Kinder, in which a drag act has her children’s story hour derailed.

Winning the Spirit Of The Fringe Award was Pussy Riot: Riot Days, a theatre piece from the punk protest art collective, chronicling their iconic protests, court trials and prison sentences. For Best Show at the International Festival, Scottish Ballet’s epic Mary, Queen Of Scots took the prize, while Best Kids Show winner was Funz N Gamez Rebootz, Phil Ellis’ anarchic anti-kids show packed with wild tasks and a chaotic sense of fun.

Receiving the Sit-Up Award was Body Count, a one-woman dark comedy exploring the new era of sex work as a competitive sport. Meanwhile, The International Fringe Encore Series prize went to Hot Mess, a subversive musical exploring the destruction of the climate. The Sit-Up Award winner received £10,000 and a slot on the 2025/26 Fringe Encore series. The International Fringe Encore Series Edinburgh winner receives a run at SoHo Playhouse in New York including accommodation and travel plus financial support.

A big thank you to our partners Johnnie Walker Princes Street for hosting us, and to Michael Pedersen and Gemma Cairney for hosting with verve, wit and crackling chemistry. And an equally massive round of applause for our supporters, which include LNER, Ghost Light Global, Data Thistle, The Pitt, Dishoom, Edinburgh Marriott Hotel Holyrood, Set! Productions, Adelaide Fringe and Pure Life Plus.

We never wanted to be rock stars or make lots of money “

‘

WMore than two decades after they split, The Beta Band are back for what’s bound to be two emotion-fuelled nights at Glasgow’s Barrowlands. As a music journalist and deputy editor of The Face at the time, Craig McLean was there at the start. To kick off our Autumn Music special, he reflects on the story of a group with a powerful aversion to the press and a keen eye for self-sabotage

e didn’t fancy being in a band and we didn’t want to play live. It just kind of crept up on us.’ So said Robin Jones to me as we sat on the grass in a park in Archway, north London in March 1999. As to why these reluctant musicians gave their pencilled idea of a group the name they did, that was courtesy of a suggestion from an underachieving pal: ‘The alpha band were the top of the class,’ explained John Maclean. ‘The beta band were the worst.’

The drummer and keyboard player in The Beta Band had acceded (of course reluctantly) to an interview (of sorts) because the feature I was writing was for American music magazine Spin, which was the cool, upstart, indie-leaning rival to Rolling Stone. Meanwhile, seated a few yards away on a different patch of grass, frontman Steve Mason and bassist Richard Greentree were yielding, twitchily, to a grilling by a French music journalist.

But agreeing to coverage in the British press? The Beta Band didn’t like that. Expressing themselves through madcap pop videos (styling cues: Mr Benn), colourful stickers (fireworks, tigers and stars, oh my!), their own fanzine (The Flower Press), 20-minute-plus jams (‘The Hut’, ‘Happiness And Colour’) and stage shows where there were more potted plants than instruments? The Beta Band were fully into all that.

Which is why we loved them so much when, with debut 12-inch-only EP Champion Versions (July 1997, made on a paltry budget of £4000), they burst out of an art-school hinterland plotted somewhere between Fife and London, and a musical neverland that had nothing to do with the prevailing headwinds of Britpop. But when it came to playing the game, ie promoting their music to audiences that would include people who knew them? Not so much.

In my day job back then as deputy editor at The Face, we had tried relentlessly to profile them. At that time, most . . . no, all young British artists who’d yet to release a debut album would have bitten our hands off for a feature. Not these guys. A Mojo interview only happened after the monthly agreed to their condition that they be asked the same questions put to The Beatles before their 1966 Shea Stadium concert.

The previous summer, ahead of the release of The Three EPs, a compilation of their first three 12-inches, they had submitted to an NME cover only if they could appear dressed as ‘African kings’. Jones admitted to me that ‘we meant military uniforms’, in the style of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. They ended up styled as Biblical monarchs, with the equally incongruous headline: ‘A funkfolkjazzrockbovinebluesdub experience for the new millennium’. Well, quite. As the headline on my Spin feature would have it, with more factual than geographical accuracy, this was ‘The Weirdest Group in England’.

And now here we were in early spring 1999, a couple of months out from the release of their self-titled debut album. We were, too, exactly a year shy of the band’s now-legendary (and appropriately tangential) appearance in the film of Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel High Fidelity. In the Hollywood adaptation, John Cusack’s Chicago record-shop owner Rob Gordon demonstrates his own discerning taste, his customers’ sheep-like awe of him, and the artists’ undeniable mastery of a good groove, by playing the recalcitrant Scotsmen. ‘I will now sell five copies of The Three EPs by The Beta Band,’ says Rob, pronouncing ‘beta’, annoyingly, as ‘bayta’. Twenty-three seconds of the chorus of ‘Dry The Rain’ later: sold to the head-nodding punter!

After The Three EPs, Greentree, Jones, Maclean and Mason were rarely beta; often they were much worse. Giddy on a £300,000 budget from EMI, they began recording some of The Beta Band album on the north-west coast of Scotland, in a hut that belonged to Maclean’s granddad. Those two jams (‘The Hut’, and ‘Happiness And Colour’) were both intended for the album, and were duly mailed out to reviewers (I prize my cassette copies). But then the band decided they were boring and chopped them off the finished tracklisting.

There was similar back and forth with the penultimate track, the ten-minute long ‘The Hard One’, which had the unfocused wiggy-ness of much of the rest of the album, only more so. It features the piano motif and lyrics from ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’, the Bonnie Tyler hit written by Jim Steinman. Steinman objected to the usage and at one point threatened legal action, which jeopardised the song’s inclusion on the album; in its original form anyway. But in the end, Steinman decided he liked the track and ‘The Hard One’ stayed.

Two days after our interview, there was an invitation-only listening party for the album in a packed bar in east London. Noel Gallagher was there, as was Nick McCabe, the Verve guitarist who produced the Betas’ first EP. At one point I heard Noel talking to another journo about the album. ‘From what I can hear, it’s pretty fuckin’ mental!’ he shouted above the free-booze racket. ‘A bit of Eddie Cochran, a bit of Ian Dury & The Blockheads, too. It’s fucking really good!’

Not that The Beta Band were pleased. Their idea of doing press in support of the album was to sabotage it. In an NME interview that ran the week of release, Mason proclaimed it as ‘definitely the worst record we’ve ever made and it’s probably one of the worst records that’ll come out this year’. You want specifics? ‘It’s got some terrible songs on it, our album. None of them are fully realised or fully even written. Halfwritten songs with jams in the middle.’

They passed the buck to their label, blaming lack of cash and time, neither of which seemed credible even then. And Miles Leonard, who ran the Regal imprint at EMI, immediately clapped back. ‘They’re lame excuses,’ he told the magazine. ‘They had as much time as they wanted to have to make it; they were not forced to do anything they didn’t want to.’ Still, the exec admitted he did rein them in. ‘They wanted it to be a double album and they wanted to record each side in a different continent: one in Tokyo, one in Mexico, and so on. We tried to plan it, but to do it would have been impossible. It would have cost three-quarters of a million pounds or something and they would have lost the plot.’

The only way was (waywardly, diagonally, eventually) down. A second album, Hot Shots II (2001) was recorded with Brit hip-hop producer C-Swing. It was hobbled out of the gate when it transpired that the band’s first choice of lead single, the hippy fantasia ‘Squares’, had the same sample as ‘Daydream In Blue’ by I Monster, which was already getting radio airplay. So they swapped it for ‘Broke’. With almost 10m plays, ‘Squares’ is now The Beta Band’s second most streamed track on Spotify (‘Dry The Rain’ has 43m). ‘Broke’ has 339,000.

Heroes To Zeroes, their third and final album, was released in April 2004. Hired by their PR, I wrote the biography (a glorified press release, effectively) for the record. That’s normally the easiest, most straightforward interview an artist can do. But The Beta Band wouldn’t even agree to that, and I had to write it from material supplied by their label. The writing was on the wall. Four months later they announced they were splitting up, £1.2m in debt to EMI. That December, The Beta Band played their final show at Edinburgh’s Liquid Rooms.

But now, 21 years later, after solo careers and film directing and getting on with life, and after recovering from the very real mental-health trauma of those days, The Beta Band are back. They’ve reformed to re-release The Three EPs in a ‘deluxe’ new vinyl edition, and to play a UK and North American tour. These champions’ aversions to the ‘normal’ business of being a band have, clearly, abated.

Well . . . not entirely. They’re still barely doing any interviews. Mason has talked to the BrooklynVegan podcast to promote the US and Canadian shows. And the band spoke to The Guardian in March, with Mason summing up their still-intact position thus: ‘We never wanted to be rock stars or make lots of money. Our ambitions were solely artistic and we pushed ourselves until the last minute. Then we split up. But how many bands can say they spent £1.2m on art?’

Beyond that, let’s give them the last, wonky word. Here’s what they said, collectively, when their comeback was announced in spring: ‘The Beta Band, as everyone knows, is an institution, like Bedlam or the RSPCA, and as such has its own indelible stain on the bedsheet of western culture. It was the great John Noakes who said: “You have to shake it out at least once every couple of decades, if you want to know what the moths did.” So with both those facts in mind, we realise the time has come to show the wall the Luminol, kill the lights and hit the UV.’ The Beta Band, then: still alpha contrarians. The gigs will be sensational.

The Beta Band play Barrowlands, Glasgow, Thursday 25 & Friday 26 September.

Thanks in no small part to the scene that’s grown up around the Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland’s jazz course in Glasgow, Scottish musicians are starring in festivals internationally, while jazz releases from here sing out on radio programmes across the world. And autumn also brings a surge of internationally acclaimed musicians to our own shores. First up is pianist Paul Harrison, who launches his latest album, Encontros at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh (Friday 5 September) before heading to The Merchants House in Glasgow (Sunday 7 September). Encontros is a celebration of the music of Brazilian pianist, guitarist, composer and ECM Records favourite, Egberto Gismonti. It comes with

an endorsement from Gismonti himself, as well as praise from radio presenters in the US, Canada, Australia and closer to home.

Harrison’s launch gigs feature his Trio Magico with bassist Mario Caribe and drummer Stu Brown, plus guests Laura Macdonald (alto saxophone) and Rachel Lightbody (vocals) who both feature on the album. He has also hinted at a surprise inclusion or two.

With its rich history, Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall remains the flagship venue for jazz in Scotland and, while it doesn’t host jazz to quite the same extent it once did, it opens its autumn programme with a worldclass duo in saxophonist Tommy Smith and pianist Gwilym Simcock (Thursday 11 September). Simcock has toured extensively with

Autumn leaves

As summer drifts into memory and sweater weather returns, Rob Adams rounds up the best jazz gigs to check out over the coming months, with plenty of homegrown and international talent heading our way

guitar superstar Pat Metheny while late keyboard master Chick Corea considered him a musical genius.

Also at Queen’s Hall, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra revisit the music of fusion pioneers Weather Report (Friday 26 September), under the direction of drummer Alyn Cosker in a tour that also visits Aberdeen (Saturday 27 September) and the Royal Conservatoire (Sunday 28 September). Tuba player Theon Cross follows (Wednesday 15 October) as part of the Amplifi series while saxophonist Harben Kay’s quartet (Thursday 16 October) and the Fergus McCreadie Trio (Thursday 16 October) respectively launch their new albums at the venue as part of tours.

The Jazz Bar, Whighams and The Outhouse (who host the Playtime collective) continue to stage regular gigs in Edinburgh, with Playtime adding a concert in Kirkcaldy at the Old Kirk (Friday 5 September) to their schedule. Meanwhile in Glasgow, Jazz At The Merchants

House, Glasgow Jazz Club and Jazz At The Glad Café have local and international attractions lined up.

Tours to look out for include Norwegian trumpeter Erik Palmberg, who is confirmed for Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Linlithgow and Kirkcaldy; saxophonist Phil Bancroft’s Indo-jazz-flavoured Beautiful Storm; and pianist Gabriel Latchin’s trio. Canadian guitar virtuoso Lorne Lofsky makes a rare trip to Scotland, accompanied by fellow guitarist Nigel Price’s trio in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.

Hot club favourites Rose Room continue their 15th anniversary tour and while the Scottish National Youth Jazz Orchestra have a series of concerts planned, their colleagues Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra celebrate 50 years of developing young talent with a concert at Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy (Saturday 1 November), a remarkable achievement for their tireless musical director Richard Michael.

Jazz warriors (clockwise from top right): Gwilym Simcock, Erik Palmberg, Trio Magico (featuring Paul Harrison, centre), Theon Cross, Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra, Lorne Lofsky, Rose Room

They may have a spanking new album in the bag, but Nova Twins seem as committed to fighting for the marginalised as promoting their own music. This rock duo give Claire Sawers the lowdown on challenging the establishment, darker vibes, and seeing a true reflection of society at their gigs

Taking on the world

n rock you kinda have these stereotypes; you need to be cool, you need to know all the band names, all the fucking guitar names, you need to mosh, and when you do, you and hurt yourself . . . that’s not our scene,’ says Amy Love, singer and guitarist in Nova Twins. ‘If you come to see us and it’s your first rock concert, there’s no judgement. If you do know all the bands, great! But also if you don’t, let us introduce you to it. It’s the point scoring that’s the problem. If you wanna mosh hard, great. Also, if here for rock, you just like the vibes, then great. If you wanna twerk at the moshpit, great!’ ‘Female nerds are welcome too! If you wanna nerd out, you can,’ adds bassist Georgia South. Nova Twins are talking over Zoom from their homes in East Sussex, charging up their batteries during a bit of calm before the storm. It’s the week before they release their third album Parasites and head off on tour, starting with a live show in New York, then their biggest headline European tour to date, ending up where it all began in London. The duo of Love and South (not twins, in fact, but best friends) have been making music together for over a decade. Love grew up in Essex, and South lived an hour away in Lewisham, south-east London. The girls met as teenagers when Love dated South’s brother. They clicked over their obsession with music. ‘I went to a School Of Rock summer school when I was like

In 2014 they started performing together, briefly calling themselves BRAATS before settling on Nova Twins. They gigged around grassroots venues and grabbed new fans by the throat with their punky first single ‘Bassline Bitch’ and its snarled chorus, ‘we’ll slap that look right off your face’. Three EPs followed and, around that time, Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine called them ‘the best band you’ve never heard of’. They put out their first album Who Are The Girls? in 2020 but things shifted up a gear with their second album Supernova, which was nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize, and for BRIT Awards in the Best Group and Best Rock/Alternative Act categories. When their alt-rock style didn’t fit the criteria for the MOBOs, honouring achievements in ‘music of black origin’, the girls wrote an open letter to the awards, asking why rock and alternative POC artists weren’t represented. It worked: in 2022 a Best Alternative Music Category was introduced, with Nova Twins

Their genre-blending sound draws a broad audience; they are known for their DIY aesthetic and punk rage but serve their headbanging nu-metal with hooky pop fixings and a riotous party vibe. ‘We grew up listening to all sorts,’ says Love. ‘I started with Whitney Houston, a lot of Toni Braxton, then I got into rockier stuff like New York Dolls and MC5. I loved vocalists that sounded a bit different, like Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. Plus I was growing up in Essex so there was UK garage.’ South chimes in: ‘For me it was Stevie Wonder and Mariah Carey in the early days, then I fell in love with N.E.R.D. and Timbaland’s production of Beyoncé, and growing up in London there was grime and people like Skepta. There was always this huge mash of

Perhaps unsurprisingly then, the new album is a bombastic, sometimes queasy, uneasy blend of light and dark. After the shiny, silver, neowore on the cover of for Parasites And Butterflies with naked shoulders, surrounded by butterflies, their faces peering into a black void, and their reflections staring right back. ‘I’m not afraid of monsters, but I’m afraid of myself,’ Love sings on the angsty ‘Monsters’, before adding ‘you promised me heaven but this feels like hell.’

In total contrast, ‘Hummingbird’ opens with an a cappella sample from Iranian singer Mahsa Vahdat, in tribute to Love’s heritage (Love is from an Iranian and Nigerian background, and South is Jamaican Australian). It’s a slower BPM, tender celebration of the women and communities that inspire them, featuring violin and viola. Just don’t expect any synths; they are banned and all instrumentation is made by humans plus a bunch of distortion pedals, with muscular drumming from Nine Inch Nails’ Ilan Rubin across six tracks. ‘It’s a lot darker than our first two albums, because that’s where our headspace was at,’ says Love. ‘We enjoyed exploring more vulnerability and being a lot more open but it’s not all doom and gloom; we needed balance. You still have those fun moments: we are playing on the duality.’

A huge part of Nova Twins’ appeal is their commitment to bringing others up with them. They are devoted activists, and as part of the Black Lives Matter conversations in early lockdown, the duo began their Voices For The Unheard project, releasing a charity compilation album of under-represented POC artists, including black feminist punk three-piece Big Joanie, mixed race indie-pop songwriter Connie Constance and New York alt hip-hop band, Oxymorrons. All profits went to The Black Curriculum, a social enterprise aiming to improve the teaching of black history in the UK. They have also set up a scholarship with London’s Institute Of Contemporary Music Performance (ICMP), which pays for a three-year BA (Hons) Creative Musicianship

‘As people, we like to be optimists,’ says South. ‘When the world does feel so heavy and dark, we often feel like, what can we do to spark change? There is so much to sift through, but music is the way we can help and give hope through our shows. Speaking out for the voiceless and using our platform for good.’

Love agrees: ‘It’s overwhelming, so many things are happening all at once, but you’ve gotta just chip at it, bit by bit. Maybe you take to the streets or just have conversations in your family with people who have judgemental views, or you donate somewhere. People beat themselves up and they need to be kind to themselves. “Hey Keir Starmer, how about eyerolls sarcastically, with a burst of laughter. Their righteous approach to the industry has always been there. Decolonising punk and rock has been their MO since the start. They performed at the second ever Decolonise Festival in 2018, the London DIY punk festival by and for punks of colour, whose manifesto

states: ‘We are uncompromising and strong and will dismantle the white supremacy and patriarchy that infests the punk scene.’

‘It feels like there are always barriers,’ shrugs Love. ‘Constantly. Other artists jump over hurdles and barriers, but it feels like we’ve learned, as women, black women, we always have to prove ourselves. People have short memories! We’ve grown such resilience. Other artists have had to do the same. When we were working on Voices For The Unheard in lockdown, it was really helpful and beneficial to hear from other artists and know we are not on this island alone. It confirmed we are not going crazy; these infrastructures are there that are not designed for women in rock music, especially not women of colour in rock music. It’s been great being able to kick down some walls, and it’s been quite fun as well.’ Now, when they look out at their live audiences, Love loves what she sees. ‘It’s what we always dreamt of seeing out there. We call our fans the Discord Crew. They call themselves Supernovas or Nova Family.’

Both women have spoken in the past about the racism they experienced in their childhood and have been vocal in their opposition to the surge in far-right violence across the UK. ‘Growing up, we always felt like the girls on the outside, looking in,’ says Love. ‘We always really wanted to grow an audience, a community. When we first started gigging, our audience wasn’t that diverse. We were pleased that they bought tickets, of course, but it was mainly older men, not many girls. We’re thankful for the audiences we have now. We’ll see people in their 70s and eight-yearold kids on their mum or dad’s shoulders. It’s been nice to look out and just see a true reflection of society. There’s something about music when you see everyone together, enjoying a simple moment. And it doesn’t really matter where you’re from or what you look like. Nowadays, these moments of togetherness are few and far between. People can feel that energy at

Nova Twins play SWG3, Glasgow, Sunday 12 October; Parasites And Butterflies is out now

on Marshall

We’re turning 40!

Win an exclusive pair of tickets to our special 40th birthday celebration at Summerhall on Thursday 2 October, 8pm–midnight

The List has been championing arts and culture across Scotland since 1985. To celebrate our 40th birthday we’re throwing an exclusive party taking place at Edinburgh’s Summerhall on Thursday 2 October, 8pm – midnight. Expect music, entertainment, and drinks from Lind & Lime, Innis & Gunn and Fiol.

To win a pair of tickets to this special event, scan the QR code:

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Bring the noise

Core, Glasgow’s festival of heavy music, is notable for its progressive and diverse programming as much as its celebration of squalling noise. It represents a new generation of punk and metal bands, and fans who have turned against the aggressive, blokey trappings of the genre. That much becomes clear when speaking to festival co-founder David Weaver. But first, an anecdote.

The legendary Washington DC punk band Fugazi were famous for their rants against ‘slam dancing’ (what Brits call moshing).

Singer Ian MacKaye would often call out specific men from the stage, telling them to stop endangering other audience members (usually women), or simply that they were ‘aggravating us, sir’ (to quote MacKaye during the band’s last performance, in London in 2001, which I attended as a teenager).

Fugazi was part of a new wave of politically engaged posthardcore punk bands also responsible for pioneering the ‘straightedge’ movement (renouncing drink and drugs), and associated

with a general culture of embarrassment about the white-male ego, debauchery and misogyny that characterised heavy guitar music across the 1970s and 80s. The fact that this critique was coming squarely from within white-male rock culture seemed neither here nor there in an era before the term ‘lived experience’ had much currency. What did women think of slam dancing? Who knows? We have saved them from it!

Fast forward to the present, and festivals like Core have embraced a far wider range of genres, genders and back stories than was traditionally permitted for events of their type. ‘Whereas scenes like nu-metal and metalcore from 20 years ago felt very white, male, straight and angry, it now feels like metal, hardcore and everything in between is at the forefront of change,’ says Weaver. ‘Core definitely wants to showcase and celebrate that as much as possible.’

Let’s inspect the line-up, then. Grindcore group HIRS Collective, who take their name from a gender-neutral pronoun, are a revolving stable of musicians and activists fronted by trans woman Jenna

While the heavy music scene has been linked to misogyny and aggression in decades past, Glasgow’s Core festival is at the forefront of a new era of inclusivity for the genre. Festival co-founder David Weaver tells Greg Thomas that political and social activism have played a key role in shifting the dial

Pup, pummelling out 30-second-long blasts against anti-LGBT+ bigotry. Helms Alee are a female-fronted stoner rock outfit whose drummer and singer Hozoji Matheson-Margullis has spoken about the ecological themes in their songwriting. CumGirl8, previous Core performers, are an all-woman post-punk quartet whose songs celebrate queer sexuality and kick against online misogyny. Guitarist Steve Brooks, of this year’s headliners Torche, is one of the few long-time openly gay musicians in metal and has previously brought together others in the same position to publicly discuss the joys and challenges of their career choice. All of this correlates with some re-routing of the inner wiring of heavy music over the last ten to 15 years. As Weaver puts it: ‘So many bands and scenes are embedded in political and social activism now. They go hand in hand I think; if you’re creating angry and progressive music, it’s natural that you’d be passionate about social causes. Likewise, if you’re troubled by what’s happening in the world, what better outlet than starting a band?’

That last sentence speaks to a persistent truism, though. The desire to pick up a musical instrument and make an extraordinary racket is always, at some level, going be an expression of anger. And anger is a masculine-coded emotion. For reasons lost in the millennia-old soup of mingled human nature and nurture, public expressions of rage are always going to attract men.

Perhaps what Core and the new scene around it represents is not just the need for new voices to define heavy music, but also a celebration of metal-and-punk masculinity itself as more vulnerable, emotionally open, and welcoming to others then ever before. Instead of cancelling the slam dance, come join us in the middle of it. ‘Heavy music is a really healthy and creative way of examining and dealing with the dark bits of life,’ Weaver concludes. ‘It’s way better to jump in a mosh pit or hit drums than it is to start a fight.’

Core, Woodside Halls and The Hug And

Glasgow, Friday 12–Sunday 14 September.

Pint,

Hard Core: heavy hitters from the festival’s previous editions and its 2025 line-up

The gig economy

A season of summer festivals might be behind us all, but the darker nights bring out the brightest stars. And this autumn, there is a veritable galaxy of them to enjoy. We’ve plucked out a mere 25 highlights, from an Egyptian Sudanese alt-indie solo act to a set of Australian electro-rockers, plus a sisterly trio and a twin duo

BRAD KELLA

This winner of Channel 4’s The Piano was given permission to play on the old joanna that his Liverpudlian compatriot John Lennon last played on. He goes on a headline tour now having previously supported Gary Barlow.

 Òran Mór, Glasgow, Tuesday 16 September.

CATE LE BON

If you still needed to ask, this Penboyr songwriter and producer is no relation to Duran Duran’s Simon (though her stage name is indeed a reference to him). Here she hits the road just as her seventh studio album, Michelangelo Dying, reaches folks’ ears.

St Luke’s, Glasgow, Monday 13 October.

CHLOE QISHA

Dubbed by one glossy mag as a ‘pop superstar n the making’, Malaysianborn, London-based Qisha comes fresh from supporting Coldplay at Wembley and into a headline UK and European tour.

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sunday 5 October.

CLOTH

You’d imagine another SAY Award longlisting (at least) will be on the way with the twin sibling pair’s new Pink Silence record, and they end their current tour with two lovely Scottish dates

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Saturday 8 November; Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Sunday 9 November.

CMAT

Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (you can see where the stage name comes from now in case you were wondering) is doing very well for herself, thanks very much, given this trio of Barras dates are all totally sold out. Enjoy your night(s), lucky ticket-holders.

Barrowlands, Glasgow, Wednesday 8–Friday 10 October.

ENGLISH TEACHER

These current custodians of the Mercury Music Prize are hopping about on their biggest tour to date. This Could Be Texas. But it’s not, it’s the east end of Glesga, guys.

Barrowlands, Glasgow, Wednesday 19 November.

GNOSS

After a busy schedule touring Europe and Canada, this trad quartet bring their vibrant and atmospheric sounds all the way home.

La Belle Angele, Thursday 16 October; The Art School, Glasgow, Saturday 25 October.

GOGOL BORDELLO

This alt-indie Manhattan punkish band have been ploughing their trade for over one whole quarter of a century and show very little signs of slowing up. If you can find a better named band touring in the autumn, please bring them to our door.

SWG3, Glasgow, Tuesday 28 October.

HAIM

Happy Halloween as the sibling trio thankfully don’t carry out the promise of their new album (it’s called I Quit) as Este, Danielle and Alana fire their melodic soft rock into a packed Hydro.

OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Friday 31 October.

JAMES YORKSTON & NINA PERSSON

After their joint album venture in 2023, the Yorkston/Persson collaboration keeps on motoring with this gig while a new album also features another superb Swedish vocalist, Johanna Söderberg from First Aid Kit.

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Tuesday 16 September.

JESSICA WINTER

As far as debut album titles go, My First Album is far from the worst. ‘Moreish pop music’ one commentator said, and it’s hard to argue for an act who has been compared in passing to Madonna, Kylie and Prince. Not a bad trio, that.

The Hug And Pint, Glasgow, Wednesday 22 October.

From top: Chloe Qisha, CMAT, Gnoss, Gogol Bordello, Haim

KATY PERRY

Fresh from a wander into space, this stratospheric pop icon crash-lands to planet Earth for The Lifetimes Tour which promises all the hits and plenty more.

OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Tuesday 7 October.

LEGSS

Almost every bandname these days looks like a typo, but fear not, this alt-rock team know precisely what they’re doing. With a debut album, Unreal, on the way, the future is looking bright and all that.

Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Thursday 9 October.

LEWIS CAPALDI

What can you say about arguably the biggest solo Scottish act on the globe? Plenty. But for now, we hope he’s doing ok and wish him all the best for this tour.

OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 September.

LIV DAWN

This Loch Lomond folk singer has been touring with Del Amitri and Megan Black this year but strikes out on her own for a Sneaky’s appearance which marks the end of her 2025 run.

Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Saturday 20 September.

LORDE

The artist formerly known as Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor might be working in a packed field of solo artists but distinctive pop work keeps Lorde’s head (and shoulders) well above much of the competition.

OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Wednesday 19 November.

LUVCAT

A lot of L folk on this list. Here’s the last one aka Sophie Morgan Howarth, also aka another potential typo, but not. Vicious Delicious is her band’s debut album after a whole heap of singles such as ‘Love & Money’ and ‘Lipstick. Which both begin with . . .

SWG3, Glasgow, Thursday 6 November.

MCKINLEY DIXON

Having broken through in 2021, this Virginian rapper has cemented a solid reputation and been celebrated for his poetic positivity. That shiny outlook is put heavily to the test with his new album which is about four friends, one of whom dies.

The Hug And Pint, Glasgow, Friday 17 October.

NXDIA

This Egyptian Sudanese indie rocker has upped the grit factor for their busy new album, I Promise No One’s Watching. The same can’t be said for the public as many are glancing in Nxdia’s direction to see what comes next.

King Tut’s, Glasgow, Monday 6 October.

PENDULUM

These Perth folks (Australia branch) are Scotland’s favourite Saturday-night electronic-rock band (those dates are just a coincidence probably) as they fire up tunes from their wholly inappropriately titled Inertia album.

SWG3, Glasgow, Saturday 13 September; Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Saturday 1 November.

SCOTTISH ENSEMBLE

The innovative classical collective are zeroing in on Anna Meredith’s work for their new Shifting Patterns tour, throwing in a spot of Górecki and delivering it all accompanied by stunning projections and backdrops.

Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sunday 26 October; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Monday 27 October.

STEWART COPELAND

Ok, not strictly a gig, but a speaking appearance by the drumming Police man will likely have more rhythm to it than many other shows put together. Is he here to spill the beans or be a discreet gentleman?

Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sunday 9 November.

THE WILD THINGS

They’ve covered arguably Abba’s most contentious hit and have long collaborated with Who legend Pete Townshend, but this jaunty rock outfit are stridently their own people.

Nice N Sleazy, Glasgow, Tuesday 16 September.

TIDE LINES

Reflecting back on youthful optimism and camaraderie, the Highland quartet are musing on the journey they made from up there to down here in new album Glasgow Love Story. Not for nothing are they in the Barrowland Hall Of Fame. Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Thursday 20 November.

TUNE-YARDS

Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner are trotting the globe on the back of a sixth album, Better Dreaming, a typically smooth, funky and direct set of idiosyncratic yet danceable tunes. St Luke’s, Glasgow, Wednesday 26 November.

From top: Lewis Capaldi, Luvcat, Pendulum, Scottish Ensemble, Tune-Yards

PICTURE: SHERVIN LAINEZ

THE DELPHINE

The latest venture from the folks behind Glaschu, The Duke’s Umbrella, Blue Dog, Gost and others is this all-day café-bar in Glasgow’s Princes Square. Joining Maison By Glaschu (another of the group’s ventures) in the shopping hub, The Delphine is open from early until late offering smoothies, brunch and lunch dishes, main meals, cocktails, bubbles and more. There’s a global slant to the food including French toast, shakshuka eggs and peri-peri dishes, plus salads and burgers with customised add-ons. Alongside pastas and Asian faves, it’s all designed to help fuel busy shoppers and day trippers through their days and nights. (Jay Thundercliffe)

n Princes Square, 48 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, thedelphine.com

eat & drink

Special brew

Ataproom is a space where a craft beer brewery pours its own beer. That usually meant a brewery adapted part of its space into something customer-facing, with a friendly, bearded fellow in a branded beanie standing behind a makeshift bar with some beer taps. Then, there was version 2.0: long bench tables, repurposed scaffolding and rows of chrome taps offering more and more hazy pale ales and New England IPAs. The staff were cooler, the merch dearer and the neon signs were so edgy they had to be kept in cages.

But those days may soon be over too, judging by some recent developments in Edinburgh. On Hanover Street, local brewery Pilot has opened Vessel, which very much feels like equal parts brewery showcase and standalone bar/bistro, with an emphasis on local and indie producers. The logo (two faces in profile creating the silhouette of a goblet) evokes a wine bar rather than a splinter-filled taproom, and there’s a softness in everything from furnishings to uniforms.

But it wasn’t always going to be like this, confesses Pilot’s co-founder Patrick Jones. ‘The plan was to open back in 2018 in the brewery in Leith, but then

David Kirkwood explores the evolution of the taproom, an area of hospitality where everything’s changing, especially in Edinburgh

we needed the storage space . . . then covid happened and everything just sort of moved on.’ As time passed and the craft-beer scene matured, Jones also observed a desire for taprooms to feel more curated: ‘We’ve got eight beer lines; six are our core beers and two are rotationals. Our food, which is small-ish plates for sharing, is about 50% veggie or vegan.’ We’re talking miso heritage carrots rather than dirty fries; Jones cites the Verdant taproom in Cornwall, a full-on seafood restaurant, as the benchmark for doing things differently. In Leith, Newbarns Brewery beautifully combines early-stage taproom with more current concerns. You step off the brewery floor into a den of pub nostalgia, with memorabilia and couches, a dartboard and monthly pub quiz. ‘We want to make beers that people want to drink pints of, so for us it’s not just about beer from the source,’ explains operations manager Wes Hall. ‘It’s about asking “in what sort of place do I want to be drinking these pints?”.’ Up next for Newbarns is a co-venture bar/restaurant on Easter Road with The Palmerston team. Moonwake and Campervan taprooms are also thriving in Leith, which begs the question: why is Glasgow lagging? Overtone Brewing is perhaps the city’s

Tapped up:

Vessel (top & main pic), Newbarns Brewery

side dishes

Jo Laidlaw finds it’s all about the bevvy out west this month, while the pizza party continues in the east

Fancy a cocktail? In Glasgow? You’re in luck: there’s not one, but two festivals in praise of mixing your drinks this month. Newcomer Glasgow Cocktail Festival (until Sunday 7 September) promises unlimited discounts on signature cocktails from around 50 bars, while returner Glasgow Cocktail Fortnight (Thursday 25 September–Wednesday 8 October) has new cocktail trails to help you find your way around. If that doesn’t tickle your pickle, how about a pint? Glasgow’s West End Beer Festival (Sunday 28 September) moves to SWG3 for 2025 but their focus on an all-indie brewers remains.

If new openings are your thing, you’re going to want a copy of our new guide to eating out in the city, Eat & Drink 365 Glasgow (published in October). But meanwhile, say ‘hiya pal’ to Dishoom (breakfast naan ahoy), as well as SiSi, which offers panoramic views and crowd-pleasing Mexican-inspired small plates. In Shawlands, The Jolly Tamil looks worth a peek, or head east to Anxious Pete’s Pizza, a NY-slice joint near The Barras from the folk behind Pizza Cult.

Talking of pizza, Edinburgh shows no sign of reaching slice saturation even as the openings pile up. Sear’s Pizza have scooted along the M8 to open a second branch in Marchmont, while Social By Matto are doing their bit to brighten up Shandwick Place. Their panuozzo (wee pizza sandwiches) look like a perfect lunchtime bite. Finally, Leith Social Club opened with a bang last month (and a DJ set by Bez from Happy Mondays). The bar is a love letter to British 90s culture, featuring a Burberry-covered pool table and free jukie. Rave on.

best candidate for a taproom set-up, but as sales rep Andrew McKeen explains, it’s all about location. ‘The taproom question comes up again and again, but we just don’t think enough people would want to come to the outskirts of town to drink beer in the car park of an industrial estate.’ Spots elsewhere are hard to come by and bring hefty associated risks of costs and compromises.

Dom Nisbet, owner of Glaswegian craft beer institution Koelschip Yard, also points out the breweries who get taprooms right have a core range of lagers and pale ales that customers can get behind. ‘That means a steadier and larger output, which means it’s a more solid decision to commit to a taproom. There’s also traditionally been more independent bars in Edinburgh, so more places are free to stock local breweries.’ He also suggests that while Glasgow has a bigger population, Edinburgh’s all-year tourism means there’s a greater demand for visitors asking for a ‘local pint’. It’s a fast-moving scene, but one thing’s for sure: the taproom evolution will not be generalised.

SiSi

BRASSERIE THE CAPTAIN DARLING

As fashions are cyclical (this year, we’ve seen bucket hats, slogan t-shirts and pedal pushers return alongside certain 90s bands), so too are restaurants. While small plates and fine dining are still with us (although, arguably, waning), one of Edinburgh’s newer openings returns to simpler times, where no one was asking you to share five anchovies for a tenner. Stockbridge’s The Captain Darling is bringing back prawn cocktail, shepherd’s pie, steak frîtes, bargain ‘worker’s lunch’ and Sunday roasts. It’s even reclaiming the term ‘brasserie’. Replacing long-term brunch spot Hamiltons, this is a new venture for The Òir Group, known for Bodega and Lucky Yu. Inside, there’s a moody green colour scheme with mustard yellow fabric and lots of blonde wood. Jazz plays and there’s a low-key buzz. Candles burn on low tables and there are plenty of seats at the bar: a sign we’re aiming for proper pub, not just restaurantwith-bar.

To begin, of course, that prawn cocktail: thankfully, salad-cream slicked tiny crustaceans have been left in the past. They’re replaced by fat juicy langoustine tails in a zingy burnt lemon and paprika sauce with crisp lettuce. From the charcoal grill, a fillet of sea trout is beautifully fresh, with a retro (but delicious) pink grapefruit sauce and charred broccoli. The steak in the steak frîtes is a little more done than necessary, but the meat remains tender and tasty, and the chips are very good. The finale is lemon posset, brought forward for today’s tastes with a dash of peppery extra-virgin olive oil and a crunch of sea salt. Taking classic dishes and doing them well is the intention here, and it works. Who knew that a return to the past could feel like a breath of fresh air? A warm welcome to The Captain Darling, and a special welcome back to ‘working’ pub lunches. (Ailsa Sheldon)

n 16–18 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh, thecaptaindarling.com; average price £12.50 for a one-course worker’s lunch.

INDIAN GRILLED BY AJAY KUMAR

Ajay Kumar is becoming well-kent around Glasgow, with three operations to his name: Swadish, his two-AA rosette Indian restaurant, which opened in 2019; Home, his online meal delivery set-up; and this new spot focusing on barbecued dishes. He also competed in TV’s Great British Menu last year, doing himself proud.

Taking over the lower-ground floor previously occupied by Meat Bar in the city centre, Grilled has added little to the décor of stone, wood and coppery-brown furnishings. There’s a strong bar feel, though booths, nooks and elevated Indian food focus attention on eating rather than drinking.

The small plates and starters utilise fryer rather than grill, with golden and crispy cauliflower pakora and prawn koliwada, while hollow pani puri balls are satisfying mouthfuls of spiced potato, yoghurt and tamarind. For grill action, head to the kebab menu: all come juicy, tinged from the flames and impressively enhanced by bold accompanying sauces. Highlights include herby hariyali chicken kebab with punchy burnt tomato and lime salsa, Kandhari paneer with earthy beetroot chutney, and mushroom tikka with black garlic cream.

A handful of curries see the meat hitting the coals before being paired with sauce. Both duck leg vindaloo and lamb karahi give up deliciously tender smoky meat with sauces that have real depth; the vindaloo (not too fiery) has lovely little pops of pickled raisins. Jeera rice and masala chips are well handled, while the beautifully flaky, crispy Malabar paratha may be the best (and cheapest) item on the menu. (Jay Thundercliffe)

n 142 West Regent Street, Glasgow, grilledbyajaykumar.co.uk; average price £30 for two courses.

Ask EADith

Got a food dilemma? Need a killer rec to seal the deal? Or just want the inside track on Glasgow and Edinburgh’s eating and drinking scene? Then why not ask EADith, our Eat & Drink team’s helpful agony aunt. This month, she’s going dating . . . well, sort of

Dear EADith

I’m seeing someone new and I’m pretty keen, but I’m not sure how they feel about me. Where can I take them for dinner that’s date night-ish but doesn’t immediately scream ‘romantic table for two’?

LoverBoy

Dear LoverBoy

Modern dating sounds tricky. Mr EADith and I often remark that it’s hard to keep up with all you young folk’s bumbling, hinging and grinding. But I do know this: if you’re dating-ish, you can’t go wrong with a table at Italian-ish Little Capo

Firstly, you’ll be commended for your good taste. This effortlessly cool hangout is the real deal, with bar seats for a glass of wine and pasta of the day, while elbow-to-elbow little tables give a convivial buzz to the place. The red walls bring any-weather warmth and flood the restaurant with a pinky golden glow which makes everyone look, and feel, good. It’s not obviously romantic, but it’s definitely a little sexy. I defy anyone not to love it, unless perhaps they don’t eat carbs (in which case, dear LoverBoy, swipe left).

Start with a cocktail to settle the nerves and set the scene. It’s a strong list: Martinis and Spritzes get special attention, with excellent no and lowalcohol options too. Try a Negroni Sbagliato, resplendent with a fat Gordal olive, paired with hot, salty courgette fritti. The starters are sharing-plates style, which is a good way to figure out a potential beloved’s intentions. Will they split a burrata with you? It’s highly recommended: creamy and bouncy with lemony shaved fennel and pistachio.

Little Capo serves real feelgood food, generous dishes and rich seasonal flavours. The hake and mussel stew with orzo and samphire has a delightful depth. Crispy polenta comes with tomatoes, and green and white beans, all accompanied by the most incredible pesto. Wedges of plump focaccia to dunk and mop are always a good idea.

If your honey stays sweet on you, they may want to hang around for cake and the daily selection always thrills. Think pistachio, lime and berry, or chocolate and cherry: soft, fresh and yielding, perfect with an espresso. Good luck LoverBoy, and if it’s not to be, at least you’ll be well-fed. (As told to Ailsa Sheldon) n 18 Howe Street, Edinburgh, littlecapo.com; average price for two courses £27.

BAR FILES

Creative folks reveal their top watering hole COMEDIAN MC HAMMERSMITH

When I was a student at Edinburgh Uni, we did a pub crawl where everyone wrote down their favourite (and least favourite) drinking establishment, and we picked eight of them at random. Long story short, we ended up going to the Slug & Lettuce in the Omni Centre three times in one night; and I would like to defend the Slug & Lettuce, and extol its virtues as a drinking venue. After the restaurant area closes, it’s always quiet and clean, the staff are lovely, cocktails are cheap and service is immediate! Plus it’s next door to Cosmo World Buffet and, in my opinion, every night out should end with curry, pasta, sushi, tiramisu and a full carvery on the same plate. n MC Hammersmith And Friends, Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Sunday 14 September.

travel & shop

THE KINDRED FOLK

Dreamed up by couple Maura and Jordan Brier five years ago, The Kindred Folk is an independent Scottish fragrance company making candles and wax melts inspired by nature. Their scents range from citrusy to sweet to woody, but all are designed to help people slow down, take a step back and turn their daily routines into opportunities for mindfulness. This commitment to nature extends to sustainable practices as well. Each candle is handmade in their Loch Lomond studio, with all materials sourced locally, and their products totally palm and paraffin free, made instead from a mixture of rapeseed and coconut wax. (Isy Santini)  thekindredfolk.co.uk, instagram.com/thekindredfolk

WanderList: Boston

While Boston may live in the shadow of its eastern seaboard neighbour New York City, Suzy Pope insists this often-overlooked metropolis has plenty to offer

Let’s get one thing straight: Boston is not New York.

However, Beantown is just as worthy as the Big Apple for a grown-up getaway, sipping cocktails at rooftop bars, shopping til you drop and catching a big game.

Centuries of history, from rebellious tea-dumping to revolutionary plots, can be found on Boston’s Freedom Trail, a 4km walk that does a stellar job of orienting you in the city. Boston’s defining blend of old world and new is on display as red brick meets sleek skyscraper. Afterwards, it’s time for a drink. Luckily, the trail ends at the sprawling green expanse of Boston Common (smaller and more sedate than Central Park) and the famous Cheers bar is nearby. Nobody actually knows my name, but a cold Sam Adams goes down a treat in classic dive-bar surroundings.

From here, it’s a couple of blocks to well-to-do Beacon Hill. This is the West Village of Boston, where chichi coffee shops and independent stores fill grand, brownstone buildings. Three floors of packed shelves at Beacon Hill Books is my kind of shopping spree, plus there’s a café for a pick-me-up. If your shopping style is more second-hand treasures than boutique designerwear, the SoWa Vintage Market buzzes to life on Sundays in a former factory complex. Outside, it’s all about sizzling, frying and rotating street food. Inside, there’s a warren of artists’ studios where the creators themselves work away while you

peruse vibrant paintings and ethereal sculptures. The basement is dedicated to a vintage market where stalls overflow with grungeera plaid, biker jackets that smell like old smoke, and bric-a-brac galore.

On game days at Fenway Park, it feels like everyone in Boston makes a pilgrimage to see the Red Sox play. I know nothing about baseball, but the atmosphere is electric. Mexican Waves sweep across the crowd and, at the satisfying thunk of a home-run hit, everyone is on their feet (including me). To celebrate the Red Sox win, I head to Shybird in Fenway for dangerously moreish rotisserie chicken with finger-lickingly good sauce.

Ending a typically Bostonian day, try a pint at The Dubliner bar. Basically, I want to sip a slightly sub-par stout (Guinness doesn’t travel well) in the city that brought me Dropkick Murphys. For a more sophisticated tipple, the lounge atop Raffles Hotel pours a signature Boston Sling as red as a Manhattan. It comes with a vertigo-inducing view of the city’s Back Bay neighbourhood, twinkling at night. Boston may not have the size, scale or filmbackdrop familiarity of NYC, but give me Beacon Hill and SoWa Market over Fifth Avenue, a Boston Sling over a Manhattan, or game day at Fenway Park over Yankee Stadium any day.

meetboston.com

my favourite holiday

Glasgow-based singer-songwriter Pippa Blundell shares a moment of creative self-reflection from a trip to the south of France

In my past life, when years were young on my face and my hair was as long as my spine, I lived for some time in Marseille on the south coast of France. I drank cafè allongé on sun-trapped balconies, read Bell Hooks and raged about masculinity, bronzed my Scottish skin on the Mediterranean coastline and danced at queer bars until the early hours when conversations didn’t make much sense anymore (not that they made much sense the rest of the time). I learned basic French by stumbling around the city and fumbling for the right sounds to come out my mouth; the Marseillaise speak in a way that could be compared to the Weegies, so it was a constant battle of being lost in translation with an inability to express myself deeply in this foreign tongue.

I would take long weekends, leaving the city in a rusty Citroën campervan that was named Jumpy, driving to Verdon, a beautiful lake and canyon region named after its magical turquoise colour. I wrote most of my album here, when the words really needed to be told. My most memorable times were early mornings, particularly the month just after winter had lifted, when night-time brought frost. But, as the morning glow hit the flora, the world began to thaw and so did I. I wrote ‘Common Thread’ in this place; the song just fell out as if its words yearned to be heard. Escaping to be alone is my favourite holiday; to remember the sometimes-forgotten self.

Pippa Blundell’s debut album Common Thread is out now on Bridge The Gap; album launch gig at Òran Mór, Glasgow, Wednesday 24 September.

on your doorstep

Come autumn, the thought of foraging for food in woods and hedgerows feels within grasp. But experienced foragers keep their best spots secret, so where’s a beginner to start? Donald Reid picks out three guided foraging walks within reach of Glasgow and Edinburgh

ABERFELDY

The Perthshire town’s Open Gate Festival 2025 is all about engaging with local food, programming a number of fungi forays, and foraging walks led by local experts Duncan Pepper, Lilla Valler and Charlotte Flower (Thursday 4 & Friday 5, Sunday 7 September). Plus, there’s a forager’s feast at the Scottish Crannog Centre (Saturday 6 September).

n healthiesttown.org

BEECRAIGS & ALMONDELL COUNTRY PARKS

In groups of no more than 12, Amy Rankine leads foraging expeditions in West Lothian for seasonal plants and mushrooms, emphasising identification tips and everyday practicality as well as foraging practices that are mindful of local ecoystems. Kids are encouraged to join, with walks on Saturday 7, Sunday 13 September, Saturday 4 and Sunday 26 October.

n foragelivingston.com

FIFE SEAWEED FEST

Foraging ain’t all just strange mushrooms and bramble thorns. As this inaugural festival highlights, there are riches in the wrack along our coastline. The festival programme (Saturday 6–Sunday 14 September) ranges across films, talks, cooking demos and art workshops, with a seaweed identification expedition led by Whitehouse Foraging at Kingsbarns (Saturday 13 September).

n fifeseaweedfest.com

Gate Festival

Open

A CUT ABOVE

Created to give chefs a chance to get hands-on with the tools of their trade before buying, Katie Messer shares the evolution of her artisanal knife shop with Megan Merino

Everyone knows a good knife is a kitchen essential; no one more so than Katie Messer, co-founder of popular restaurant Skua and its sister knife and artisanal tool shop, aptly named after her (Messer translates to ‘knife’ in German). ‘It wasn’t going to be the name for a long time but then we thought, “you know what, we should just stop avoiding the obvious!”’

Along with partner James Aikman, Messer has operated out of St Stephen Street since May last year selling kitchen knives, tools, pots and pans. ‘We’ve worked in restaurants for a very long time and whenever we need anything, we have to order it online. You just don’t get that same shopping experience and for something that you’re going to use all day, every day, it’s really important that you know exactly what you’re getting.’

The answer was a physical store in which conversations could be had and products handled. ‘The beautiful thing about a bricks-andmortar store is you get to see it, and you get to hold it,’ Messer adds. ‘I wanted it to be an experience where people can come in and feel comfortable to find the things that are really right for them.’

Japanese knives are the most well-stocked in the store due to their top-tier craftsmanship. ‘But I’m hoping to get some really nice artisanal Scottish and European-made knives over the next few months too,’ says Messer. Their range of cookware, chef-wear and cookbooks will also be expanded, thanks to a larger space opening up down the street later this month. ‘We’re keeping the small shop and launching a new pop-up space called Studio School which will have a constant rotation of small, independent brands, makers and experiences from around the UK.’

72 St Stephen Street & 66a St Stephen Street (opening late September); instagram.com/messer.scot

shop talk

WILLOW BOUTIQUE

An ideal place to find a gift for babies and toddlers, there’s an excellent selection of picture and sensory books, as well as stuffed animals, quirky toys and dress-up items. What’s more, parents can also treat themselves to cosy socks, cute homeware items and candles.

n 5 Raeburn Place, Edinburgh; willowboutique1. co.uk; instagram.com/willow_boutique_uk

BUNNY & BEAR

Head to Bunny & Bear for the perfect backto-school wardrobe. This adorable clothing boutique stocks high-quality European childrenswear designers at an affordable price for kids up to nine years old. Why not go one

Whether getting back-to-school ready or celebrating the arrival of a little one, Isy Santini has three top tips for kids’ shops

step further and get matching outfits for your kid’s dolls with their range of clothing and accessories?

n Unit 14, St Enoch Centre, Glasgow; bunnybearchildrenswear.co.uk; instagram.com/ bunnyandbearx

MINI MOMENTS

From nursery décor and luxury wooden toys to pacifiers and sippy cups, everything you could need for kids aged up to eight is here. Plus, for parents avoiding iPads, they have an impressive range of games designed to promote play.

n 114 Drymen Road, Bearsden, Glasgow; minimoments.scotland.co.uk; instagram.com/ minimoments.scotland

LAMMERMUIR FESTIVAL

‘Beautiful music . . . beautiful places’ is the tagline for this East Lothian-wide feast of classical music and it’s nigh well impossible to disagree with that. In locales such as Haddington, Dirleton and Dunbar, this awardwinning event will platform some thrilling performances, composers and musicians. Highlights include Elena Urioste playing Recomposed, Max Richter’s fresh take on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Amsterdam’s Dudok Quartet (pictured) doing Tchaikovsky, Red Note Ensemble’s Flock, and Steven Osborne with The Philharmonia Orchestra. (Brian Donaldson)  Various venues, Thursday 4–Monday 15 September.

going out

Actor, wrestler, TV star . . . and bear: Hercules was all that and more. Now his astonishing tale is about to be told to a new generation. Eddie Harrison caught up with Maggie Robin to reminisce about her ‘boy’ and the prospect of seeing him brought to life on stage

SSmarter than the average bear

tep aside Paddington: Hercules The Bear is back, the beloved ursine who charmed the world in the 70s and 80s with his Scottish wrestler owner, the late Andy Robin. Born into captivity in 1975, Hercules was due to be put down if a home wasn’t found, so Robin purchased him to be part of his act. When ready to leave his mother, Hercules moved in with Robin and his wife Maggie in Sheriffmuir, near Dunblane, where they lived together for 25 happy years.

Now the bear’s adventures have been turned into a new play from theatre company Tenterhooks, touring across Scotland in September and October. Director Fergus Dunnet and his team are bringing the animal legend to life and Hercules’ adoptive mum is delighted her furry friend is being restored to centre stage in the public consciousness. ‘It really does feel like Hercules has been reborn with this new production, which is very exciting for me personally,’ says Maggie. ‘Fergus phoned me up and told me he was doing this play and explained what it was going to be like. I felt nervous about it at first, but as soon as I met him, I knew straight away that he got it. He got our story.’

In his heyday, Hercules was a global celebrity who got up to multiple adventures around the world, from appearing as a mascot for a basketball team to opening the Hong Kong stock market: he even had an acting role opposite Roger Moore in the James Bond film Octopussy (‘the worst one’, Maggie says). Such improbable escapades probably wouldn’t happen today due to current health and safety restrictions, but Maggie is proud of what they all did together: ‘Animals are god’s creatures, I’ve no time for anyone who could hurt one.’

But how exactly do you bring a great big creature like Hercules The Bear to life on stage in 2025? ‘They’re using puppetry,’ explains Maggie. ‘It’s the same guy who created the onstage horses in War Horse, and what was nice for me was, the crew operating the puppet would ask me, “what would Hercules do in this situation?” There are three different puppets used for different ages in Hercules’ life, and I was able to work with them and help them understand what interactions with a bear are actually like. It’s funny and poignant. And the theatre crew really carry it off so well.’

On the appeal of the much-loved bear and his human family, Maggie feels there was something unique about the relationship between Hercules and Andy, a combination which charmed audiences from all backgrounds. ‘It all started when Andy paid £50 for Hercules, way back when he was still in his mummy’s tummy; we were all waiting for him to be born.’ She believes Hercules had a nature which led him towards company. ‘Male bears are generally solitary, but Hercules was one of our family; he was a real softy who loved to wrestle, roll around and play. Of course, he famously got lost at one point and we couldn’t find him for several weeks. Once we got him back home, he always seemed to feel much more safe. For Herc to be away from us was a real trauma for him; he seemed to be agoraphobic after that.’

As Tenterhooks’ production of Hercules The Bear hits the stage, Maggie is looking forward to seeing that connection between Hercules and his humans evoked through the magic of live theatre. ‘It’s a unique story, a one-off. You have to remember, Hercules wasn’t part of some production line of bears; he was our boy, our first in our family. People appreciate how much we loved him and how much he loved us,’ she says. ‘It’s a story about kindness, and about how animals can bring out the best in people. There’s a generation who have only ever seen clips of Hercules on YouTube, so I’m hoping this play will bring the legend of Hercules alive for a new audience.’

Hercules The Bear, The Studio, Edinburgh, Tuesday 30 September; full Scottish tour details at tenterhooks.org

Bear necessities: Maggie Robin (centre) with Hercules

The Bear cast Ben Winger, Suzie Ferguson and Diane Thornton; director Fergus Dunnet (top left); Hercules at home with Andy and Maggie Robin (bottom right)

VIC ’ S PICKS

WBBC broadcaster, author, actor, musician, DJ, and now a List columnist, the lad Galloway flicks through some music listings to choose top September gigs in variously sized rooms and across different genres . . .

hat would the world be like today without Kraftwerk? They pretty much invented modern electronic music, and their influence must rival even that of The Beatles on 20th and 21st–century pop culture.

A version of the band continues to this day, led by Ralf Hütter, but elsewhere estranged original members continue to forge forward with their own music, such as 77-year-old pioneer Wolfgang Flür. He may not have as many gimmicks and outlandish visual projections as his former band, but the pulsing synth pop of his new album Times, featuring guest turns from Peter Hook and Juan Atkins, should satisfy the Krautrock obsessives. See him at SWG3, Glasgow and La Belle Angele, Edinburgh (Friday 5 & Saturday 6 September respectively).

‘Punk Rock’™ may officially be nearly 50 years old, but constant reincarnations and reinventions appear on an almost daily basis. Every music fanatic has debated what is and isn’t genuinely punk over the years, and that discussion will no doubt rage on ad infinitum. No-holds-barred two-piece

don’t mess around, however, and make an almighty racket with

The Meffs don’t mess around, however, and make an almighty racket with Lily Hopkins’ righteous anger and cranked-up guitar taking centre stage.

Combining old-skool 70s rama-lama with a pared-back, guttural, garage blast, they have Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh (Thursday 11 September) in their sights. Fear not though, they are back to play Scotland Calling in April next year alongside forerunners such as The Exploited, The Rezillos and UK Subs.

Combining old-skool 70s rama-lama with a pared-back, guttural, garage and category, the collective bring their swirling cacophony to Scotland once again. , is a total marvel. See and hear for yourself at Barrowland indie

Invention and innovation are words that stick easily to Black Country, New Road, and with good reason. Releasing three albums that have defied convention and category, the collective bring their swirling cacophony to Scotland once again. Despite lead singer Isaac Wood’s exit from the band, their most recent studio collection, Forever Howlong, is a total marvel. See and hear for yourself at Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow (Thursday 18 September) and Fat Sam’s, Dundee (Friday 19 September). There may be elements of baroque, pop, prog, post-rock and indie in the heady brew, but prepare to expect the unexpected . . .

 Listen to Vic Galloway every Monday and Wednesday night on BBC Radio Scotland; he is also co-hosting the Scottish Album Of The Year Award Ceremony at Caird Hall, Dundee, Thursday 6 November.

GAELIC CULTURE O'ER A' MY LABOURS SEY YOUR SKILL

While poet Robert Fergusson was famed for writing in Scots and English, forthcoming anthology O’er A’ My Labours Sey Your Skill also includes work in Gaelic from writers including Inverness-based Ceitidh Campbell. She believes Fergusson’s legacy contributes to the celebration and preservation of Scottish culture and identity: ‘In the contemporary era, that includes all Scotland’s languages and, in the wake of the Scotland’s Languages Bill, it feels only right to include Gaelic.’ Campbell was drawn to Fergusson’s ‘trademark depictions, the sights and sounds and busy life of Edinburgh’ as a basis for her response, titled ‘Fortan na Mìle Rìoghail’. It uses the Royal Mile as a backdrop, she says, with ‘its good luck traditions of spitting on the Heart Of Midlothian and rubbing David Hume’s toe.’ Campbell, who launches her own collection, Dàn Nam Ban, with Edinburgh’s Leamington Books in October, adds: ‘History is at the core of my work; personal, family or wider social or political. We have to know where we’ve been to know where we are going.’ The Fergusson anthology is part of that reknowing. Describing him as ‘the forgotten national poet’, Campbell says: ‘It’s time for him to step into the light, as his work in literature, Scottish identity, Scots language and as an advocate for mental-health treatments is rediscovered by a new generation.’

(Marcas Mac an Tuairneir)

 Book launch event at University Of Glasgow Advanced Research Centre, Wednesday 10 September. O’er A’ My Labours Sey Your Skill is published by Taproot Press, Thursday 4 September.

Ceitidh Campbell

The Meffs

COMEDY ABERDEEN COMEDY FESTIVAL

A place or person that can laugh at itself is a well-rounded and confident entity. Supporters of Aberdeen FC have been known to take the baiting about their alleged and disgracefully stereotypical predilection for farm animals in good fun, reacting with a very charming and quite admirable amount of levity and self-mockery. So when the organisers of the city’s comedy festival met to concoct a slogan for their two-week event, what else would work than ‘Ha! Ha! Haberdeen!’. A special kind of genius, that. But catchphrasing aside, have they put the laughter where their mouths are by enticing quality acts all the way to the Granite City so soon after Edinburgh has chortled its last Fringe-infused snigger? Darn tootin’ they have. Probably considered as headline acts are Strictly victor Chris McCausland, impersonator extraordinaire Rory Bremner, Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Bridget Christie, medic-turned-comic Adam Kay, Fife wag Daniel Sloss, and stand-up provocateur Stewart Lee who takes on the Man-Wulf.

Skirting along the edges of what might be deemed the next level down (which is often the spot where more intriguing performers reside) are sketch double-act Shelf, laconic ‘Frenchman’ Marcel Lucont, Sophie Duker with a work-in-progress show, Kieran Hodgson (pictured) doing his Voice Of America set, and clowny performer Elf Lyons. Alex Ferguson, Aberdeen FC’s legendary boss from the 1980s, is believed to have once mused that he knew the home crowd was getting excited because you could hear the rustle of toffee-wrappers becoming ever more frenzied. With the aforementioned lot in town, surely the bellowing laughter would drown out even that deafening sound? (Brian Donaldson)

n Various venues, Aberdeen, Monday 22 September–Sunday 5 October.

THEATRE

HERE & NOW

eht a tre • the a ert •

Forget the boot-scootin’ abomination of ‘5,6,7,8’, the heinous coordinated outfits and H’s unforgiveable curtains hairstyle of yesteryear: Steps have given us some absolute pop peaches in a career that’s spanned more than a quarter of a century. From early pearls (‘One For Sorrow’, ‘Last Thing On My Mind’), through their imperial phase (‘It’s The Way You Make Me Feel’, ‘Deeper Shade Of Blue’) to sophisticated post-reunion bangers (‘Scared Of The Dark’, ‘What The Future Holds’), the quintet have blithely ignored pretty much every prevailing trend in the music industry to plough their pure-pop furrow.

Faye, Claire, Lisa, Lee and H (or Ian as he’s known to his mum) have navigated and survived dodgy dance routines, break-ups and a tell-all documentary to rack up a fairly solid list of achievements: the UK’s most successful mixed-sex pop group of all time, 14 top five singles, four number one albums, 22 million record sales, 500 million streams, and 11 sold-out national arena tours.

So what’s the logical next, erm, step for the fivesome? Their very own jukebox musical, that’s what, set in Better Best Bargains supermarket where ‘the shelves are stocked with lies and betrayal’: you don’t get that down Lidl. Backed by a catalogue of tunes ripe for adaptation to the format, Here & Now has attracted some strong casting, including respected West End stalwart Rebecca Lock in the lead role of Caz, and Finty Williams (daughter of Dame Judi Dench, no less) as Patricia. Expect key changes, campness and, no doubt, a little ‘Tragedy’ along the way. (Paul McLean)

n King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tuesday 16–Saturday 20 September; Edinburgh Playhouse, Tuesday 24 February–Sunday 1 March. Steps

“

This is home, and this is safe

Now in its third year, Ando Glaso Roma Festival continues to focus minds on Roma culture in Scotland. János Lang, founder of the charity behind the event, talks to Evie Glen about the legacy of Roma music and why he wants the community’s younger generation to get involved

In 1700, a gifted fiddler named James Macpherson, with a Scottish father and Romani mother, was hanged under the 1609 act that made existing as a Roma in Scotland punishable by death. A folk hero, his lament at the gallows was immortalised in Burns’ song, ‘Macpherson’s Farewell’. The song, now a staple of the Celtic traditional music canon, is set to a G-major barn dance. As legend dictates that Macpherson composed this distinctly Scottish setting, with no musical trace of his mother’s Roma influence, testifies to the lost history of a distinct Romani culture in Scotland. Nowadays, there are over 5000 Roma people living here but the struggle to amplify a contemporary culture remains an ongoing concern.

To address this vacuum, János Lang (pictured, far left) founded the charity Ando Glaso in 2017. After finding his own way as an internationally established musician, Lang recognised the ‘huge legacy’ left by traditional Roma music as ‘one of the first and only moments when windows opened for Roma people to be included in mainstream society organically’.

The name ‘Ando Glaso’, meaning ‘in tune’ in Romanes, reflects this legacy. Lang explains that because of their nomadic history, the Roma people have ‘no cities, cathedrals, nothing to put in a museum’ but Lang describes how their ‘intangible culture and heritage’, like their stories, customs and traditional music, is very rich.

Ando Glaso exists to preserve this intangible culture and heritage through a combination of research, youth work and arts events. Lang is especially keen to engage with the younger, second generation of Roma migrants who

he says are stuck ‘between a rock and a hard place’ as their parents still view Scotland as only a short-term home, despite it being the only home they have known. Through the establishment of a creative hub for young Romani in Glasgow, and arts-focused projects like the youth festival at this year’s event, Ando Glaso helps encourage young people to see that ‘this is home, and this is safe’ which, Lang suggests, is one of the main challenges involved in overcoming the turmoil of migration.

The Roma Festival returns to Glasgow this month for its third year and, Lang promises, its most eclectic weekend of music, conversations and performances yet. ‘It’s the first time we really pulled together other organisations,’ says Lang, noting this year’s short film competition in collaboration with Drive2Survive, an organisation dedicated to the survival of Roma communities in the UK. Lang also highlights the festival’s research symposium, describing it as the first of its kind in the UK and Europe to bring together Roma cultural practitioners and thinkers from across the globe.

Lang hopes the symposium and wider festival will inspire fresh approaches to tackle the ‘suffocating fragmentation’ of Roma communities by building an infrastructure for Roma culture in Scotland. The event manifestly channels Lang’s message to young Romani in Glasgow: ‘This is the world around you, don’t be afraid to get out there.’

Ando Glaso Roma Festival, Barras Art And Design and Elim Church, Glasgow, Friday 12 & Saturday 13 September.

MUSIC DAY FEVER

For many millennials (and older), the desire to pull shapes is still strong, but it’s just not worth ruining your Sunday for. That’s where Day Fever comes in; a great ‘night’ out for over 30s, with the promise of being home in time for dinner. The concept is the brainchild of actress Vicky McClure, her filmmaker husband Jonny Owen, and their friend Jon McClure (no relation), frontman of Reverend And The Makers. Their first event in Sheffield last year was a sell-out and the daytime disco has now expanded to 23 towns and cities across the UK.

The idea is simple: a few hours of dancing to top tunes, without the consequences of a late night, and all for just £10. The result: a safe, inclusive environment. As Jon says: ‘We've never had a bit of trouble, there’s never been any bother. It’s a great, joyful atmosphere with little bits of mischief.’ The playlist is carefully curated, featuring everything from Northern Soul to disco, the best bits of the 80s and 90s, indie anthems and massive singalongs.

‘We hoped that people would get something from it; a bit of fun and letting the hair down,’ says Vicky. But it’s since grown into more, becoming a lifeline for many attendees. People going through chemotherapy, those in remission, and others grieving loved ones finding solace on the dancefloor. ‘All of a sudden you just feel this room filled with love,’ she says. And that’s exactly what Day Fever delivers: love, community and heaps of fun. (Lauren McKay)

 Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Saturday 13 September; Barras Art And Design, Glasgow, Saturday 27 September, Saturday 25 October.

FILM THE ROSES

Remakes are ten a penny in Hollywood, but sometimes you get one intriguing enough to make you wonder how 21st-century audiences will take to it. Case in point: The Roses. This brand new comedy is based on the 1981 Warren Adler novel The War Of The Roses, previously directed by Danny DeVito in 1989 as a black-hearted satire. It featured his fellow Romancing The Stone co-stars Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner playing a warring couple fighting every inch of the way to the divorce courts.

‘I don’t think you have to watch the first one as a prep for this. It is its own thing,’ says Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays architect Theo Rose, a father-of-two, married to Ivy (Olivia Colman), a rising star on the gastronomy scene. To start with, gender roles have been reversed, with Ivy the breadwinner and Theo nursing a spectacular failure. Secondly, it’s a British couple living on the west coast of America, whose marriage implodes into tit-for-tat revenging.

The film also comes written by Tony McNamara (‘Australia’s laid-back genius’, as Cumberbatch calls him) who previously penned the bawdy period romp The Favourite, starring Colman. ‘It’s got that McNamara flair. The repartee . . . it’s deliciously British. It’s completely perfect,’ adds Kate McKinnon, the American comic from Bridesmaids and Barbie, who here plays Amy, a lascivious friend of the Roses.

Directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet The Parents), The Roses is stacked with comic talent, including McKinnon’s Saturday Night Live alumni Andy Samberg and Stath Lets Flats’ Jamie Demetriou, as well as ex-Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa. But at its heart is a love story gone sour, says McKinnon. ‘They have such a connection. When things get in the way of that, it’s really devastating, because they really do care for each other. They’re really good friends.’ (James Mottram)

 In cinemas now.

Edinburgh

Scan for film screenings.

St James Quarter, Edinburgh, EH1 3AD

GOING OUT FURTHER AFIELD

Get yourself away from the central belt and out into various parts of Scotland where the cultural landscape is just as rich. Among the upcoming highlights are a celebration of our national tipple and a play about a dogwalker staving off isolation

ABERDEEN

SCOTTISH NATIONAL WHISKY FESTIVAL

Raise your glass to Scotland’s national drink as you have the opportunity to sample from hundreds of incredible drams created in world-renowned distilleries and esteemed independent bottlers. n Music Hall, Saturday 13 September.

CARNWATH

THE NEEDLE ROOM

This South Lanarkshire village hosts the start of a Scottish tour for a tale set in 1934. From Braw Clan comes this play about a housekeeper for a wealthy Lanark family whose secrets are about to shatter the peace.

n Carnwath Town Hall, Wednesday 17 September.

DUNDEE

PRESENT FUTURES

The sixth edition of this festival features performance, visual art, film, sound and talks, and includes a work, The Violet Hour, by event curator Colette Sadler. n Various venues, Wednesday 10 & Thursday 11 September.

INVERNESS

MAN’S BEST FRIEND

In Douglas Maxwell’s new play, Jordan Young plays Ronnie, a man who has had a tough time of late but keeps himself stable by taking his neighbour’s dogs for walks. That is until a walk goes wrong one day.

n Eden Court Theatre, Tuesday 9 September.

MAIRI CAMPBELL

Living Stone is a blend of live music, song and visual art, creating a rich, multi-sensory experience which highlights the mysteries of everyday living.

n Eden Court Theatre, Tuesday 23 September.

KIRKCALDY

PIRATE LOVE UNDERPANTS

Adapted for the stage from a book by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort, this swashbuckling show takes to the high seas with songs, puppets, very silly jokes and a rather substantial amount of shiny golden pants.

n Adam Smith Theatre, Wednesday 3 & Thursday 4 September.

PERTH

PERTH 125

Perth Theatre reaches the landmark of 125 years and throws a bash befitting such a milestone. Among those joining the fun are Ross Ainslie, Parliamo, Walt Disco and DJ Jack David.

n Various venues, Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 September.

PITLOCHRY

SCOTS OPERA PROJECT

Not one but two operas are being staged in Pitlochry this month: Celtic folk piece The Seal-Woman and a Scots language version of Charpentier’s chamber opera Actéon

n Pitlochry Festival Theatre, until Sunday 14 September.

STIRLING

JOSIE LONG

The acclaimed comic and broadcaster is back with a new show about discovery, wonder, extinction and how to walk through a landscape of monstrous disasters.

n Tolbooth, Saturday 13 September.

The Seal-Woman part of Scots Opera Project (and bottom from left), Josie Long, Mairi Campbell, Present Futures

rory bremner Bridget christie flying pigs connor burns daniel sloss fred macaulay ma richardson sophie duker kieran hodgson ignacio lopez stuart mitchell angela barnes deirdre o’ kane elf lyons lou conran mark watson and many more! Come for

This tragic 16thcentury regal saga is given new life by Scottish Ballet through a team of collaborators operating at the top of their game. Kelly Apter hails Mary, Queen Of Scots as a ballet masterpiece

If you tried to count the interesting creative decisions that have made their way into Scottish Ballet’s new production, you would run out of fingers in the first ten minutes. And then completely lose count by the half-hour mark. Co-creators Sophie Laplane and James Bonas may be at the helm of this remarkable ballet, but the entire collaborative team has let their imagination run wild. Stylistically, choreographically, musically and dramatically, Mary, Queen Of Scots isn’t just a gift that keeps on giving, it’s like a game of pass-the-parcel with a fascinating new layer to unwrap every few minutes

Astonishingly, this is Laplane’s first full-length ballet. As Scottish Ballet’s resident choreographer, she has created numerous short works and dance films, all of which suggested her potential for more. Well, that potential has

been realised, and not only is Mary, Queen Of Scots the best thing Laplane has ever done, it’s one of the most visually captivating and emotionally arresting shows ever to emerge from the Scottish Ballet stable.

To detail all the clever costuming, set and lighting decisions here would not only take too long, but ruin the surprise for those yet to see it. Suffice to say the spider Mary embroidered during her time in captivity has been turned into one of the most memorable moments in dance; the spies sent by Elizabeth to Mary’s court give new meaning to the term ‘fly on the wall’; and you’ll never look at a balloon in the same way again.

Soutra Gilmour’s intelligent set and costumes, and Mikael Karlsson and Michael P Atkinson’s superb score are, of course, only half the story. Laplane’s beautiful movement, Bonas’

dance of the month

dramatic eye, and the dancers’ absolute embodiment of the characters are what take us over the line into emotional investment. From the corps de ballet’s energetic Scottish court (which switches chillingly from merriment to murder) and polite French aristocracy, to the major players in this real-life 16th-century saga, the stage is awash with human fragility. The decision to depict Queen Elizabeth I as both her younger and older self is inspired: one statuesque, the other heartbreakingly frail.

Of course, we all know where this drama is heading (excuse the pun), and as the inevitable conclusion arrives, the atmosphere is electric. Seeing these two powerful women play out their destinies, as both political and religious allegiances rage across Scotland and England, is extremely tense and deeply moving.

At the constant behest of men and trying to avoid the violent mayhem that surrounds them, the rivalry between Mary and Elizabeth is shown through a new lens. Two proxies, dressed only in flesh-coloured underwear, dance

a delicate duet, illustrating how beneath all the pomp, they were simply women trying to survive. Meanwhile, the scene where Elizabeth is forced to approve Mary’s beheading is fraught with painful indecision. Leading a truly stellar cast, guest artist Charlotta Öfverholm as older Elizabeth and Roseanna Leney as Mary bring strength and vulnerability to their iconic roles. So often viewed merely as paintings on gallery walls and stories in history books, here they are depicted as living, breathing human beings. Watching their demise come ever closer is a rare and special moment of empathic, tear-inducing theatrical catharsis. Bravo to every single person, on-stage and off, who contributed to this masterpiece of modern ballet.

Mary, Queen Of Scots, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Wednesday 17–Saturday 20 September; see scottishballet.co.uk for full tour dates; reviewed at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh.

As if having an EH postcode isn’t enough of a reward, yours entitles you to money off food and drink around the city, cheaper days out and exclusive events. All to say thanks for being a local legend.

ART ANDY GOLDSWORTHY: FIFTY YEARS

There is something profoundly physical about this living retrospective by Andy Goldsworthy, whose environmental interventions into the natural world over the last half-century have literally changed the landscape. Here, Goldsworthy manages to subvert the RSA’s grand interior, which he bends and shapes to his own needs with something truly monumental.

From the moment you step up the stairs either side of a multi-coloured woollen rug, you have wandered up a garden path and not so much entered an environment, as an entire world. This has been carved, shaped and manipulated into artistic life by Goldsworthy with all the muscle, guts and hard labour that this entails. One room houses stones from 108 graveyards in Dumfries and Galloway. Another is filled with a giant circular curtain of wooden sticks, which you can step inside. A barbed wire fence is hung between pillars blocking off access, as with a private field. ‘Red Wall’ (2025) is an entire gallery wall plastered in red clay with the cracks showing. Most magnificent of all, ‘Oak Passage’ (2025) sees two felled trees, prone side by side, the space between becoming a catwalk to parade along, surrounded by nature.

Archive material shows Goldsworthy has never been afraid to get his hands dirty. Photographs capture him posing in the midst of what look like shamanic rituals or durational performance art works. As he throws sticks in the air or fashions stones into shapes, the implied battering of elements is palpable. This section of Fifty Years is a remarkable excavation of Goldsworthy’s roots and his vivid and unsentimental reimagining of the land; his newer creations, too, seem to rumble. Combined, they create an epic hymn to hard graft as much as artistic imagination. In Goldsworthy’s hands, the earth moves in mysterious and seismic life. (Neil Cooper)  National Galleries Of Scotland: Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, until Sunday 2 November.

omedy

COMEDY CARL DONNELLY: ANOTHER ROUND

Caught between his middle-aged dad responsibilities and his ‘naughty boy’ past, Carl Donnelly explains that he could have delivered a trauma-dump show after a bleak 12 months in which he’s experienced grief and debilitating serious illness (both for himself and his young daughter). And in Another Round, he still pays those experiences their due, important psychological scars for a man in his fifth decade. But he couches them within the wry, good humour of a performer eager to relate to his audience and to offer them the diversion of gregarious tales well told.

Superficially, Donnelly’s accounts of drinking abroad in Australia and at an Indian speakeasy, an unplayable gig in Belfast, and the obligatory colonoscopy account of the male comic of a certain age don’t offer too much in the way of distinctiveness. But with unshowy mastery, ready self-mockery and an eye for everyday absurdity, Donnelly capably weaves his personal anecdotes through casual social commentary.

public. And contrasting with his late, reticent Irish parents, the wife), reconstructed former divorcee and hippy vegan is determined

self-awareness. (Jay Richardson)

His WhatsApp group of school friends has shifted from sharing stories of hedonistic excess to a support group for their various mental and physical ailments; he’s nevertheless hilarious acting out his response if any of their lingering toxicity were to ever become public. And contrasting with his late, reticent Irish parents, the reformed roustabout (occasionally still let off the leash by his enabling wife), reconstructed former divorcee and hippy vegan is determined to be more emotionally available for his daughter. Even if their heartwarming bonding brings with it some doubling-over pain of greater self-awareness. (Jay Richardson)

The Stand, Glasgow, Monday 15 September; Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Thursday 9 October; reviewed at Monkey Barrel Hive, Edinburgh.

film of the month

Sam Riley shines as the protagonist in Islands, a mystery which blends indie vibes with a film noir feel to winning effect, says Emma Simmonds

This delightfully idiosyncratic, sun-kissed mystery serves up a fantastic leading role for Sam Riley, who first grabbed our attention in 2007’s Ian Curtis biopic Control but hasn’t always had the best material to work with since. It tells the story of former English tennis pro Tom (Riley), now coaching holidaymakers on an unnamed Canary Island (the film was shot on Fuerteventura). We see how he lives his life as if on permanent vacation and bounces between lacklustre, painfully hungover lessons and a hardcore party lifestyle, waking in unexpected locations and indulging in a succession of one-night stands.

Things get thrillingly sticky when Tom is drawn into the orbit of an affluent English couple, Anne and Dave Maguire (Stacy Martin and Jack Farthing), who are holidaying on the island, much to the snobbish Dave’s displeasure. There’s an instant attraction between Tom and the irresistibly ambiguous Anne, a former (though not especially successful) actress, with Dave seemingly oblivious to said frisson, as he grapples with depression and shows a total disinterest in parenting his son Anton (Dylan Torrell).

When Dave goes missing following a wild night out with Tom, an investigation ensues. It’s initially led by Tom’s police buddy Jorge (Pep Ambròs), before the infinitely more suspicious Inspector Mazo (Ramiro Blas) rocks up (‘He’s a bored cop from the capital, who’s spent too much time watching Columbo on TV,’ is Jorge’s withering verdict). Eternal outsider Tom is a captive audience to the Maguire family’s domestic disputes (which, as an escapee from any semblance of normality, he has studiously avoided

for himself). However, there is something deeper and more disconcerting afoot, as the extent of Anne and Dave’s relationship troubles reveals itself and Tom begins to truly wake up and experience a sense of déjà vu about her. Playing on the idea that no man is ever really an island, as well as the proximity and disconnect between island groups, German filmmaker Jan-Ole Gerster riffs on some of the conventions of film noir (the slippery, subtly charismatic Martin makes an excellent and thoroughly modern femme fatale, for example).

There’s also more than a smattering of Patricia Highsmith about proceedings, and just a pinch of the exotically set Agatha Christies. And yet, if you like your mysteries with an askew, indie flavour then this should appeal too; Gerster directs with a discreetly amused eye in his pursuit of a dishevelled protagonist, throwing in some random camels, one of whom, like Tom, struggles to stick with the flock.

Riley is marvellous at the fore, imbuing this morally dubious, directionless character with pathos and decency as he feels the lure of reuniting with reality. The faded glory of the oddly anomalous hotel complex, and the island’s rugged, volcanic landscapes and desolate deserts, are strikingly captured by cinematographer Juan Sarmiento G. And the whole enterprise benefits from bags of laid-back charm, a wonderful fit for a misguided yet inherently affable hero, who just cannot resist getting sucked into trouble.

Islands is in cinemas from Friday 12 September.

FILM

DEAF

‘I’ve been fighting my whole life for a dignified life,’ rages new mum Ángela in this superb Spanish drama from director Eva Libertad which shines a spotlight on the struggles of a deaf woman, cast adrift in a hearing world. Expanded from Libertad’s 2021 Goyanominated short (co-directed by Nuria Muñoz), it revolves around a devastatingly raw performance from Libertad’s sister, the deaf actress Miriam Garlo, and was the deserved winner of the Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year.

When we are first introduced to pregnant potter Ángela (Garlo), she’s living an enviable existence in rural Spain with her hearing partner Héctor (Álvaro Cervantes). Héctor evidently adores her, and Ángela passes time pleasantly in the company of hearingimpaired friends and compassionate colleagues in the studio where she works. However, this blissful balance is thrown into jeopardy when Ángela’s baby daughter is born, ripping her out of a carefully cultivated comfort zone and forcing her to re-engage with a society that has rejected and stigmatised her. Meanwhile, her daughter’s own ability to hear means that Ángela starts to feel alienated within her own family.

This impeccably judged film gives a keen sense of the battles Ángela has fought thus far, with her sometimes selfish behaviour clearly born from self-preservation and frustration. Garlo is mesmerising, conveying every ounce of Ángela’s agony, as well as her gutsiness, in a performance that’s both subtle and strong. Stylistically, the movie is a triumph too, from its seductive cinematography to a shift in sound that places us in Ángela’s shoes and adds emotional wallop to the film’s final act. Deaf takes an intimate, incisive look at the all-too common challenges of new parenthood, while presenting circumstances that are fascinatingly specific. Affecting and enlightening, it’s a powerful piece of cinema.

(Emma Simmonds)

 In cinemas from Friday 12 September.

ART

CIARA PHILLIPS: UNDOING IT

Art seeps beyond the frame in this inviting exhibition by Canadian Irish artist Ciara Phillips whose practice has always rejected the sanctity of the finished work, informed instead by an appreciation for the process of creation. Much like her 2014 Turner-nominated show, for which she transformed London’s Showroom Gallery into a print workshop, Undoing It leads audiences backwards through Phillips’ printing process.

In the first room, an emphasis on the artist’s tools brings cohesion to some seemingly disparate works made between 2019 and 2025. A muted purple woodcut hangs opposite the entrance with the phrase ‘being a human being’ etched in Phillips’ handwriting. Its natural texture is carried across two agatelike screenprints on the adjoining wall, foregrounding Phillips’ raw materials in a slow revelation of her method. The corridor-like geography of a second room continues this by functioning as a bridge between these works and the sources that inspired them.

Moving through the exhibition, the colours become more vibrant and the gallery walls lighter, suggesting a kind of enlightenment as the artist’s process comes into focus. She blows up her printing notes on a vibrant red woodcut, tacks photographs of her studio among a collage of screenprints, and marks her ink directly onto the gallery walls. As artworks in the first room are reprised and contextualised in the third, a blueprint of the work emerges. This behind-thescenes affair incorporates Phillips’ experience as both maker and teacher; yet as she leaves her works undone, she carefully destabilises notions of her authority in either role. (Evie Glen)

 Gallery Of Modern Art, Glasgow, until Sunday 26 October.

THEATRE

TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL 

It comes as no surprise to learn that more than one woman takes on the starring role in Tina. Performing this incredibly demanding part night after night (and twice on matinee days) would be beyond anyone. Not just because of the vocal agility required, but the emotional intensity of what plays out on stage. Of course, the sad fact is, that Tina Turner herself had to do all of this and much, much more. Which is why, by the end of this rollercoaster of a show, the air is thick with admiration for the performers on stage and the woman they’re celebrating.

For despite a dramatic journey that travels from hope to triumph to trauma, before circling back to triumph again, this is most definitely a celebration. Over 20 songs have been sewn into the storyline, from early hits ‘River Deep, Mountain High’ and ‘Proud Mary’ through to Tina’s resurrection hits ‘Private Dancer’ and ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’. Each one a powerhouse of physical, emotional and vocal skill.

Setting aside the wall-to-wall hits, Katori Hall’s sensitive book and Phyllida Lloyd’s masterful direction create a compelling narrative. We watch as Anna Mae Bullock finds her voice in the local church in Nutbush, Tennessee, but is abandoned by her mother. We see her gain a new name, a career and a husband, but slowly lose her self-esteem and personal safety at the hands of Ike Turner. And, most powerful of all, we cheer as Tina claws her way back to much-deserved fame, fortune and glorious autonomy. (Kelly Apter)

 King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tuesday 23 September–Saturday 4 October; Edinburgh Playhouse, Tuesday 11–Saturday 22 November; reviewed at Aldwych Theatre, London.

FILM

THE GOLDEN SPURTLE

The Golden Spurtle is a documentary about porridge, but behind its loving shots of sumptuous oats and gruel-thin misfires is a meditation on ageing, community and the difficult necessity of letting go. Set during 2023’s annual World Porridge Making Championship in the Scottish village of Carrbridge, it follows a cadre of loveable organisers and contestants competing to cook a liquid-and-oats-combo satisfying enough to win them the titular spurtleshaped trophy. At the head of this eccentric bunch is Charlie Miller, a deeply patriotic and unassuming leader whose failing health is forcing him to retire from the contest he loves.

Like The King Of Kong or Aliens: The Musical, watching small communities approach an inarguably trivial pastime with the utmost seriousness is warmly compelling, and director Constantine Costi does all he can to lean into the off-the-charts quirk factor. You half-expect he had a copy of Accidentally Wes Anderson open on his lap while he directed, with the kind of meticulously composed long shots and Russian-Doll framing that only someone who had studied the chocolate-box splendour of The Grand Budapest Hotel could conjure.

What moves the aesthetic beyond Andersonian chintz is cinematographer Dimitri Zaunders’ enthusiastic embrace of Scotland’s intricate palette of brick-stone browns, bracken greens and rain-cloud greys. The gorgeousness on display propels an amiable but shallow work that’s as gently funny as an episode of Dad’s Army, as purposefully inconsequential as a Ronnie Corbett anecdote, and as quietly moving as watching an old, unwell man say farewell to his closest friends. (Kevin Fullerton)

 In cinemas from Friday 12 September.

PICTURE: MANUEL

HARLAN

OTHER THINGS WORTH GOING OUT FOR

If you fancy getting out and about this month, there’s plenty culture to sample such as a magician putting a serious amount of electricity into himself, a film festival that travels into the deep, and a one-woman Shakespearean extravaganza

ART POLSKI

This group exhibition celebrates a decade of Polish art in Scotland, including new and existing work by 17 artists across multiple mediums.

n Scot-Art Gallery, Edinburgh, Friday 19–Monday 29 September.

COMEDY

KEVIN QUANTUM

Hot off the toes of another successful Fringe run, the scientist-turned-magician will dazzle a community audience with tricks including one where he puts a million volts of electricity through his own body.

n North Edinburgh Arts, Saturday 6 September.

DANCE

WHERE WE CHOOSE TO STAND

Penny Chivas performs a work inspired by climate activism and political change, merging movement with music, and platforming real stories with moments of audience connection.

n Tramway, Glasgow, Friday 19 & Saturday 20 September.

FILM

OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL

Here comes another jaw-dropping selection of short films featuring seafaring voyages, extreme water sports and marine conservation from the least-explored depths of our planet.

n Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Saturday 6 September.

THE CONJURING: LAST RITES

This may or may not the be the final-final instalment of this horror franchise (the title would suggest the former) as the Warrens try to expunge an especially grim demon from a family’s home.

n In cinemas from Friday 5 September.

MUSIC

SAINT ETIENNE

And it’s sad when people announce that they are on their final-final album, but this is the deal with International, this trio’s 13th studio collection. Help mark the occasion as they aim to go out with a bang.

n Monorail, Glasgow, Thursday 11 September.

DAYS FESTIVAL

A corking line-up heads to Granton for this electronic all-dayer featuring Erol Alkan, Or:la, Leon Vynehall and Ross From Friends. Impressive enough, yet they tease us with a ‘super special guest’ tba . . .

n The Pitt, Edinburgh, Saturday 27 September.

THEATRE

EDDIE IZZARD: HAMLET

The iconic comic follows up her one-person Great Expectations with a similarly weighty venture, taking on one of the Bard’s most tortured plays and inhabiting its many classic characters.

n Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Friday 19 September.

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

When teenage lad Percy Jackson discovers that he is the half-blood son of the Greek god Poseidon (hate when that happens), he finds himself plunged into a very different world.

n Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tuesday 23–Saturday 27 September.

Ocean Film Festival (and bottom from left), Where We Choose To Stand, The Lightning Thief, Kevin Quantum

6th Susie Dent - Word Perfect

11th Tommy Smith & Gwilym Simcock Duo 13th Auri

15th AMPLIFI: Bell Lungs - Kevin Leomo - Lucian Fletcher

16th James Yorkston & Nina Persson

18th

Malin Lewis Presents: Kim Carnie Trio, Malin Lewis Trio, Heal & Harrow

19th Eddie Izzard - Hamlet

20th Chris McCausland: Yonks!

24th Ward Thomas

25th Dunedin Consort: Bach’s Italy

26th The Music of Weather Report with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

27th FARA: 10th Anniversary Tour

29th Peter Hammill

staying in

BIFFY CLYRO

With bumper gigs early in 2026 preceded by more intimate acousticshaped record-store appearances in October, things look mighty peachy for the Kilmarnock trio who are now celebrating 30 years as a band. This current wave of action kicked off when they cheekily played a secret gig at SWG3 as Screwfish (their original name), and in June began teasing the name of their new album by dropping one letter at a time onto their site. (Brian Donaldson)  Futique is released by Warner Records on Friday 19 September.

They should be talked about in the same breath as Mackintosh and Eardley “

Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde were lovers from working-class Scottish roots who became stars of the post-war British art scene, yet they ended up penniless and all but forgotten. With his new novel and an exhibition of their work, Damian Barr tells Jan Patience how he hopes to rescue The Two Roberts and give them their rightful moment in the sun

Damian Barr is the busiest man in the book business. When we meet via Zoom, the Lanarkshire-born author and broadcaster is not long home in Brighton, where he lives with his husband Mike, having spent the previous day in Edinburgh presenting three episodes back-to-back of the latest series of The Big Scottish Book Club

Now appearing at events across the UK promoting his second novel, The Two Roberts, Barr has also fitted in a spin-off role curating a show about his new book’s real-life protagonists, artists Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun. The exhibition opens at Charleston In Lewes gallery in East Sussex next month and runs until April. ‘This is the first exhibition of their work in England since Robert Colquhoun died in 1962,’ explains Barr. ‘Lewes was important to them. They lived there from 1947 to 1949 and did some of their most important work there, including designs for Donald Of The Burthens, a ballet staged at Covent Garden.’

For Barr, there is a sense of relief that Kilmarnock-born ‘Robert’ (Colquhoun) and Cumnock-born ‘Bobby’ (MacBryde) are out in the world again. Rescuing ‘the boys’ from art historical obscurity has been his mission these last five years. ‘I’m in love with them both!’ he laughs. ‘In the initial set of notes I received following my first draft, it was pointed out I had to write about them as they really were. And they could be difficult!’ The result is a tender and unflinching double portrait of the real-life love affair between the two Ayrshire artists.

It’s been 12 years since Maggie & Me burst onto the publishing scene, Barr’s award-winning memoir of growing up gay in Lanarkshire against the backdrop of Thatcher’s Britain. He followed that in 2019 with his masterful debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, which focused on South Africa’s culture of toxic masculinity. The Roberts first began to burrow into Barr’s psyche after he spotted a post on pre-Musk Twitter from The Dick Institute in Kilmarnock featuring a MacBryde still life.

Then in late December 2020, under a post about Robert Colquhoun from Chichester’s Pallant House Gallery, Barr and I recall segueing into a directmessage dialogue about the two artists. As an Ayrshire girl, who attended Kilmarnock Academy almost five decades after Robert Colquhoun was a pupil in the late 1920s and early 1930s, I developed a love of art in the same rooms in which he was taught. A lifelong love of the Roberts ensued.The lockdown of 2020 offered Barr an opportunity to take a deep dive into their life and times.

‘I’d seen them mentioned in footnotes in books about Francis Bacon and Soho in the 1950s. In lockdown, I had time and energy to explore their art and their love affair. Scotland has a canon of great artists who are rightly famous, but the Roberts are not celebrated enough. They should be talked about in the same breath as Mackintosh, Eardley et al.’

Barr feels strongly that the pair’s ‘gayness’ played a large part in this omission. ‘The ugly truth of it is that it was illegal to be gay when they were alive and their lives were overshadowed by homophobia.’ Like Barr, the Roberts were from working-class backgrounds in small-town Scotland, navigating their sexuality against a backdrop of fear. Having met on their first day at Glasgow School Of Art in 1933, their talent was recognised by tutors as a single entity, something Barr weaves deftly into his narrative. They went on to blaze an often-messy trail after moving to London in 1942 and becoming an integral part of Soho’s art scene.

Feted with spreads in Vogue magazine and filmed by a young Ken Russell, they exerted a palpable influence on Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and others. In the 1940s and 1950s, they enjoyed critical success with work being bought for collections such as New York’s Museum Of Modern Art. But heavy drinking and financial pressures led to early deaths for both. Colquhoun died of a heart attack in 1962, aged 47, preparing an exhibition which may have heralded their comeback. MacBryde moved to Ireland and was killed in a car accident outside a pub in 1966. All this, and much more besides is explored in Barr’s novel, an honest, tender, raw and affectionate portrayal of Robert and Bobby.

The Two Roberts is published by Canongate on Thursday 4 September, with author events at Glasgow School Of Art, Tuesday 9 September and The Portobello Bookshop, Edinburgh, Thursday 11 September.

LISTEN BACK

Come this way for our album recommendations beginning with the letter K

Afro-maximalism is the genre favoured by American folk singer Anjimile in The King (2023), which turns the light pluck of an acoustic guitar into an unrelenting display of acrimony. Floating vocal harmonies flutter in the background of its strongest songs, buttressing Anjimile’s rich vocals that flit between regretful to pained. Its folky undercurrent should be calming, but their piquant for screeching guitars and violent crashes of noise make the experience as threatening as a hammer to the temple.

Also burrowing into drone noises and distorted vocals is Radiohead’s Kid A (2000), a fin de siècle masterpiece which draws inspiration from the glitchy ambient of Boards Of Canada to create a Moog-molesting underground album on a major-label budget.

Crowd-pleasers are in strong supply throughout, from the balls-to-the-wall bassline of ‘The National Anthem’ to the ethereal melody of ‘How To Disappear Completely’, but this jailbreak from stadium rock baffled critics at the time. (Kevin Fullerton)

 Other K listens: Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis (1959), The Kreuzberg Press by Man Without Machines (2013), Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me by The Cure (1987).

Ambient king Max Richter returns with a follow-up to his mega-selling snooze-themed opus, Sleep. Rodger Evans pours a cocoa, pops on his nightcap and stays awake long enough to preview Sleep Circle

T‘rust in me, just in me, shut your eyes and trust in me.’ But if I may segue from The Jungle Book’s python to Blue Velvet, then I would say Max Richter is the candy-coloured clown they call the sandman (as swooned over by Dennis Hopper’s heid-the-ba’ character in David Lynch’s classic flick), tip-toeing into your room every night just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper ‘go to sleep, everything is alright.’

A decade on from Sleep, his eight-and-a-half-hour study of where sleep and sound meet, Richter has made a sequel. Sleep is the most-streamed classical album of all time (2.2 billion and counting, crows the press release); time in this case beginning in the 90s/00s rather than with the Big Bang or formation of the earth’s crust.

Sleep Circle takes the woozy and circular motifs from Sleep and works them into a 90-minute accompaniment for deep sleep. It’s music to sleep (to), per chance to dream (aye, there’s the rub; soporific’s not a quality we tend to value in art) or maybe to watch a match on telly with the commentary muted while eating banana chips. I favour the former but have also listened while drinking tea and watching the smoke drift over Leith from the Arthur’s Seat wildfire, reading a book review in The Spectator (who have described Richter as Deutsche Grammophon’s ‘inhouse snooze-meister’, which I believe to be a compliment) and doing my physio exercises for a minor running injury (just another week to go, thanks for asking).

Richter, German-born and raised in Bedford, regards Auld Reekie as home, having studied composition at the University Of Edinburgh in the 80s and lived here when his kids were younger. But he seems to spend more time at his studio in Oxfordshire these days (go watch the Mighty Yellows, Max; they’ll blow your post-classical minimalist socks off). He’s a serial collaborator, having worked with, among others: Future Sound Of London, Vashti Bunyan, Roni Size, Tilda Swinton, Martin Scorsese, Wayne McGregor, Charlie Brooker, Robert Wyatt and Dior.

Comfortable with all aspects of culture, including pop and the high end, he declares a love of Bach and The Beatles, Kraftwerk and Chic, Virginia Woolf and Franz Kafka, King Tubby and Studio Ghibli, Murakami and Eurovision. In his teens, his milkman took to delivering albums by John Cage, Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Now, I’ve checked the McQueens’ Dairies website and while they can provide eggs and orange juice to supplement my regular milk delivery on a Monday and Thursday, they don’t cater for the work of avant-garde titans of the 1960s New York scene. Shame.

But being an ingenue to the world of classical music, buying records on the Deutsche Grammophon label if they have a nice cover and usually from finds in charity shops, I tend to bracket Richter with Brian Eno, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. You could call it ambient or ambient baroque or a ‘parallel venture to classical music’ (in his own words) but Erik Satie might have referred to it as furniture music: ‘melodious, softening the noises of the knives and forks at dinner.’ Indeed, early on in his career, his mentor Luciano Berio asked: ‘Why all these notes, Max?’

And when Richter played Sleep at the Great Wall Of China, he went for a coffee two hours into the epic set, only to discover the armed guards of the People’s Liberation Army curled up asleep. Doubtless a case of Chinese whispers and too much stardust. That and military fatigue.

Max Richter: Sleep Circle is released by Deutsche Grammophon on Friday 5 September.

Golden slumbers

first writes

In this Q&A, we throw some questions about ‘firsts’ at debut authors. For this issue, we feature Sam Reid, author of The Pin Jar, a folkloric story cycle told via a fictional composer

What’s the first book you remember reading as a child? Probably Danny The Champion Of The World. I still have the copy I had when I was a kid, full of Jill Bennett’s beautiful illustrations. Living in a caravan and driving cars at nine years old was the dream. Also Danny’s dad was an absolute style icon: roll neck and overalls.

What was the book you read that made you first decide to be a writer? There are lots of books that make me keep wanting to write, that work with voice and space on the page in remarkable ways, and that push me to go back and try again. Some recent ones: Kathryn Scanlan’s Kick The Latch, Magogodi oaMphela Makhene’s Innards, Zaffar Kunial’s England’s Green: all amazing.

What’s your favourite first line in a book? I re-read this recently [from The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac]: ‘Hopping a freight out of Los Angeles at high noon one day in late September 1955 I got on a gondola and lay down with my duffel bag under my head and my knees crossed and contemplated the clouds as we rolled north to Santa Barbara.’ I mean . . .

Which debut publication had the most profound effect on you? I’ve just finished Liadan Ní Chuinn’s short story collection, Every One Still Here. I think it will end up being the book I’ve loved most this year. The first and last stories are relentless. Definitely a huge recommend.

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up on a writing day? Start as soon as possible.

What’s the first thing you do when you’ve stopped writing for the day? Leave the house.

In a parallel universe where you’re the tyrant leader of a dystopian civilisation, what’s the first book you’d burn? I’m hoping for a universe, parallel or otherwise, with no tyrants.

What’s the first piece of advice you’d offer to an aspiring novelist? Surround yourself with other readers and writers. Talk about your work, read theirs, make a community of it.

The Pin Jar is published by Rough Trade Books on Thursday 4 September.

GAMES SILENT HILL F

When Capcom remade the seminal survival-horror game Resident Evil 2 in 2019, it heralded the start of a hugely successful run of remakes including 2023 masterpiece Resident Evil 4. All eyes were on rival publisher Konami, then, to reboot their oncehuge Silent Hill series which had floundered for more than a decade after the company infamously shifted its focus away from video games (and split acrimoniously with Metal Gear Solid/Death Stranding auteur Hideo Kojima).

Everything changed last year, with developer Bloober Team’s hugely successful expanded remake of Silent Hill 2 representing the vanguard of Konami’s triumphant return to the series. A remake of the very first game is also in the works (and boy will it need work), but in the meantime we have Silent Hill F, a brand-new game, to look forward to.

Departing from the foggy streets of the original US-set town, Silent Hill F will transport players to 1960s Japan with gameplay that blends traditional psychological scares with Japanese folklore and body horror. New character Hinako must work her way through a fresh misty environment, solving puzzles and battling monsters; quite how the new town will relate to its titular counterpart is unclear (perhaps they’re twinned?). In our four-star review of last year’s Silent Hill 2 remake, we took issue with the overwhelming number of enemies. Recent previews have raised concerns among some that the game might be much more combat-focused than before, with debate raging over whether or not Silent Hill is turning into a Soulslike franchise. Hopefully a balance can be struck between scares and thrills. (Murray Robertson)

 Out on PC, PS5 and Xbox series X/S on Thursday 25 September.

future sound

Our column celebrating new music to watch continues with indie-electronic trio, The Joshua Hotel. Frontman Joshua Mackenzie chats to Fiona Shepherd about Bowie, playing with the big boys and lyrically baring his soul

Inverness-based singer, songwriter, producer and self-taught multiinstrumentalist Joshua Mackenzie has been immersed in music since before he started school. His dad played guitar in Highland folk rock band Wolfstone ‘when they had horrific mullets and denim tuxedos’, his grandfather was passionate about classical music and his mum introduced him to the joys of The Cure and The Smiths.

‘From a young age I was trying to force my way into bands with much older people,’ he says. ‘When you are a nine-year-old who can play all these songs on guitar, it’s very hard to win the trust of kids who are 15, 16, wanting to go off and do gigs and drink, and they’ve got a child hanging around.’ Mackenzie eventually formed his own indie band, Lional, at a time when Inverness enjoyed the buzz of the Ironworks venue and a sense of connection to the Scottish music scene. ‘I know it’s an easy scapegoat but since the pandemic it just feels like the Highlands are a little bit left behind,’ he says. Without the pandemic, however, Mackenzie may never have sequestered himself in the world of DIY production, creating audacious pop music ‘with no regard for what the outcome was going to be’. His musician friends Louis Slorach and Joshua Gilbert were receptive, encouraging and, ultimately, part of the band when gig offers started to come back in. With a name inspired by The Doors’ Morrison Hotel, The Joshua Hotel was now fully open for business. ‘I feel I can take more risks now,’ says Mackenzie. ‘I think I’ve really come out my shell in the past five, six years and The Joshua Hotel has been a canvas for me to be unashamedly myself.’

Mackenzie will cop to the unintentional influence of early 80s outfits from Orange Juice to Japan, though he is far more likely to be listening to Björk, Kate Bush, Aphex Twin, Blur and a certain shape-shifting pop icon. ‘Bowie is how I inform all my creative decisions,’ he says. ‘The good thing is there’s not really any ceiling on that. I don’t care about something sounding flamboyant or too poppy. Before there was always a sense of things needing to sound cool, whatever that means.’

Debut album Rapture Party, recorded way down south at Fuzzface Studio on the Ayrshire riviera, testifies to that creative confidence. For the first time, Mackenzie has written unashamedly personal lyrics, so much so that the album is a life story of sorts. ‘I realised with all the songs, I was looking back on my life as far back as I’m consciously aware of and trying to cover all the big emotional milestones,’ he says. ‘The idea was that the album should be a film soundtrack to the time I’m covering lyrically, so that’s why it bounces about a bit stylistically.’

Mackenzie is excited to finally share his artistic playground with the world. ‘I’m just focusing on enjoying it as much as possible because you can really diminish the joy if you are thinking about it too strategically. I want us to keep having fun, keep putting on a good show and move on to the next thing.’

Rapture Party is released by Last Night From Glasgow on Friday 26 September.

TV SLOW HORSES

From the moment Jack Lowden started running during the very opening scene of Slow Horses, we were both hooked and hoodwinked. The commitment Lowden showed as River Cartwright, barreling through an airport and stopping at nothing to achieve his goal, suggested this was a TV show about high-profile operators. Of course, those already familiar with Mick Herron’s series of novels knew the reality, that Slow Horses is a British spy thriller with a difference.

Cartwright, like the rest of the occupants of Slough House, is an MI5 reject: bad enough to be expelled from the mothership but not quite sackable. Since that glorious opening scene, the series has continued to win praise, viewers and multiple awards including an Emmy and BAFTA. Everyone likes an underdog to do well, so the show’s appeal makes perfect sense. MI5 high heidyin Diana Taverner (the wonderfully icy Kristin Scott Thomas) may think the Slough House gang is a bunch of numpties, but we know different.

Over the course of four darkly humorous seasons, they’ve saved Britain on several occasions, pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes (including ours) until the final scene. Team leader Jackson Lamb (the wonderfully disgusting Gary Oldman) may smell like week-old takeaway, but his mind is fresh as a daisy. And he’s surrounded by an ensemble of talent (the actors and the characters they play). All of which makes season five eagerly anticipated, as we try to figure out the deal with techie Roddy’s glamorous new girlfriend. Not only that, but we’ll have the pleasure of comedian Nick Mohammed for company, too. (Kelly Apter)  On Apple TV+ from Wednesday 24 September.

In this column, we ask a pod person about the ‘casts that mean a lot to them. This month, it’s Anna Sinfield, creator of The Girlfriends, a true-crime podcast with a focus on female survivors of abuse which is back for a third season

my perfect podcast

Which podcast educates you? I like history podcasts on long car journeys. You’re Dead To Me from the BBC makes diving into the past really fun and accessible.

Which podcast makes you laugh? Normal Gossip. Nothing better than listening in on someone’s calamitous drama, knowing it won’t impact you one bit.

Which podcast makes you sad or angry? I make true-crime shows. If done right, they should make you both sad and angry, not just titillated. I remember S-Town having a profound effect on me.

Which podcast is your guilty pleasure? No guilty pleasures. I’ve gotten hooked on some pretty cheesy audio dramas though . . . no names!

Who currently doesn’t have a podcast but totally should? Rihanna. If we still can’t get a new album (8.5 years and counting), maybe she can record a podcast instead?

Pitch us a new podcast idea in exactly 25 words A reality TV-style podcast, where (consenting) adults go to a confession booth in a Catholic church and spill all to the priest . . . and the listeners.

The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer is available on all the usual platforms.

1-30 September 2025

Scottish Food & Drink September is a month-long celebration honouring the people, products, and produce that make this sector so special.

2025 THEME

This year’s campaign theme is innovation - a chance for Scottish food and drink businesses to showcase the forward-thinking approaches they’ve embraced across all aspects of their wor k It’s an oppor tunity to shine a spotlight on Scotland’s dynamic and innovative food and drink industry, and we aim to celebrate innovation at every level of the sector and throughout the entire supply chain.

GET IN TOUCH

If you would like to get involved, or have any collaborative oppor tunities around the theme of innovation, please get in touch with the Brands and Communications Team at Scotland Food & Drink - details are in the toolkit above

GET INVOLVED

Find out more about the campaign and download the toolkit at https://foodanddrink.scot/eventsand-membership/scottish-fooddrink-september/

Despite being a man down, Kevin Fullerton reckons a more relaxed writing and recording process has given fresh energy to indie folksters Big Thief on their latest album, Double Infinity

album of

Does a month go by without a member of Big Thief releasing a new batch of material? Adrianne Lenker put out her sixth solo project Bright Future to a wave of acclaim last year and a vast live album a few months ago, while Buck Meek has had lone projects ticking over for years. Combined with their full-band output, their productivity makes King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard look slothful by comparison. Yet there’s no indication that this veteran indie folk act is spreading itself thin, and Double Infinity is perhaps Big Thief’s most purposeful effort in years.

Recorded at New York City’s The Power Station in early January, the band have described a process of playing nine hours a day with improvised arrangements and minimal overdubs to convey the white-hot spark of a live performance. What could be perceived as an indulgence feels like a necessary changing of the seasons for a trio straining towards renewed artistic vitality after the departure of long-time band member Max Oleartchik (guest spots from Laraaji, Hannah Cohen, June McDoom and Mikey Buishas adds to the sense of a band restlessly broadening their palate).

Shrugging off the shackles of a rigid recording process, or even a structured writing session, are constants in Lenker’s lyrics. ‘Let me be incomprehensible’ she begs in opener ‘Incomprehensible’, echoing Madonna’s claim that ‘words are

the month

useless, especially sentences’ on ‘Bedtime Story’ when she was trying to escape her past achievements and look to the future. That theme rears its head on the next track ‘Words’, when Lenker’s quivering countrified lilt declares ‘words don’t make sense’, a manifesto for escaping over-intellectualised instincts to stumble in whatever direction music takes them.

The instrumentation isn’t as revolutionary for Big Thief as these opening salvos imply, but they do maintain the forceful pace of a three-piece placing rockets under each other’s chairs. They’ve also been unable to flee their knack for finesse and poetic unity. The album’s most measured song, ‘No Fear’, is a feat of expert arrangement, a simmering panic attack in which Lenker declaims ‘Nowhere, no table or chair, no country’ with the shaky tone of someone convincing themselves they’re fine while standing in a burning building. While an almost inordinate amount of literary nous is present (as it is on any Big

Thief record), there’s also a striking simplicity, as on the simple repetition in ‘Grandmother’, where Lenker packs up her emotions ‘to turn it all into rock’n’roll’, a wish simultaneously earnest and grandiose; it could have sprung from Noel Gallagher as much as Lenker (few Big Thief songs could make that claim). Refrains like these slide in and out of view constantly, near-religious incantations struck upon in the excitement of the moment.

Commuting by bicycle into an arts facility in the chill of a New York winter hasn’t changed the trajectory of Big Thief substantially (we’re unlikely to hear Lenker’s attempt at EDM anytime soon), but it has exposed their sound to a whole new set of stimuli. Gone is their mannered Americana, replaced by shifting rhythms and a desire to tear down the folk edifice they’ve built.

Double Infinity is released by 4AD on Friday 5 September.

TV THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

Chris Columbus has adapted the first of the four bestselling books in Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series into a film, and it’s a frustrating affair that would have played out better as a mini-series. The four core members of the macabrely monikered gang, who live in Coopers Chase retirement village, are given short shrift as they search for multiple killers from cold cases and the present day. Helen Mirren’s ex-spy Elizabeth Best is the only one to feel properly shaded in.

Pierce Brosnan appears as Ron Ritchie and is badly cast in the role. From Ron’s description in the book, and the fact that he’s a staunch West Ham supporter, someone like Ray Winstone would have made more sense. Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim Arif doesn’t get very much to do, aside from act a little uptight and get up to a modicum of mischief. Celia Imrie gives her portrayal of Joyce Meadowcroft ample warmth and wit, and her dynamic with Mirren is spot on. Indeed, Mirren has great chemistry with everyone, including Jonathan Pryce who plays her husband Stephen, and Naomi Ackie’s ex-Scotland Yard copper, Donna De Freitas.

There’s charm in the relationships, but some characters are caricatures, and the adapted screenplay by Katy Brand and Suzanne Heathcote has bewilderingly butchered certain storylines from the original novel. There’s a sense that important scenes have been removed for a rushed two-hour running time which leaves characters to play catch-up for the audience with tedious expositional dialogue. (Katherine McLaughlin)  Available now.

ALBUMS

WOLF ALICE

The

Clearing (RCA) 

The cover art for Wolf Alice’s fourth album, The Clearing, features Ellie Rowsell in the sympathetic glare of a spotlight, grasping her mic with the power stance of a globe-conquering 1970s idol. Her display of confidence rings through the album, which takes an audacious approach to its every moment, revelling in a lush orchestral palate that hasn’t been in fashion since the last gasps of Britpop.

Since the days of On The Road With Wolf Alice in 2016 (a rock doc that followed them, huddled in vans, as they scraped by on meagre earnings from shows in small venues), they’ve positioned themselves as a band with a dogged determination to prove themselves. But here they’re on top, festooning each track with a maximalist yacht-rock aesthetic that almost begs for a red carpet to be rolled out in their honour.

‘Bloom Baby Bloom’, the lead single, is the first sign of their crackling self-assurance, shifting gears from soft rock to a soaring delicate chorus, with guttural shrieks from Rowsell adding a frazzled tension to each note in the closer. Elsewhere, the touchstones of American rock roar loudly with an unabashed optimism, Rowsell’s vocals soaring to impressive heights as she opines the beauty of California and Hollywood fantasies about having her name up in lights.

Her vocals are an obvious highlight, but Rowsell’s lyrics rarely seem to keep pace with the big emotions on offer, leaning heavily on shopworn cliché; she builds a world where people fail to see the wood for the trees, remove knives from backs, dish dirt, and realise that three is a crowd. But maybe the arena energy emanating from each meticulously layered track requires phrasing that’s as instantly recognisable as a greeting card.

When its over-the-top aesthetic works, this is the festival fist-pump Wolf Alice aspire to. When it doesn’t, the overproduction (a warped vocal sample here, a rousing choral swell there) gives the air of a band who’ve enjoyed tinkering in their studio a little too much. (Kevin Fullerton)

 Out now.

PODCASTS UNICORN GIRL (Apple Original) lllll

Few people on our side of the pond have heard of Candace Rivera, a Utah native currently serving a prison sentence for fraud and theft. To the large social-media following she had cultivated under the handle one_fierce_mama, Rivera was a blazing success: a devoted mother, a selfless nurse, a founder of the anti-trafficking non-profit Exitus. Yet the reality proves far more complex. Journalist Charlie Webster, in her newest podcast Unicorn Girl, aims to guide listeners through the twisted labyrinth of lies and halftruths that Rivera built around herself.

Unicorn Girl taps into the current vogue for stories of deception, ripping away the façade of success to reveal liars and manipulators. But what it lacks in uniqueness, it makes up for in rigorous research. Webster’s narration is interspersed with readings of Rivera’s posts and interview clips with friends. Those who knew her, and suffered through her, describe Rivera as the life of the party. She was also controlling and scheming. The podcast indulges in a perverse thrill of hearing about the fall of someone so duplicitous.

Webster begins the first episode with a disclaimer: no matter how convoluted and confusing the facts may appear, she promises that all these disparate threads will be gathered together by the end. She seems to take particular pains to ensure everything is crystal clear. But rather than letting the testimonies of Rivera’s friends and enemies speak for themselves, Webster tends to repeat without enlightening. The clunkiness of the podcast’s delivery is further hindered by the addition of intrusive and distracting muzak which has an unintended effect of feeling like you’re stuck on hold to your banking provider. Unicorn Girl is an impulsive, addictive journey. Webster just needs to place more trust in the intelligence and interest of her listeners. (Eve Connor) n New episodes available every Monday.

ALBUMS NOURISHED BY TIME

The Passionate Ones (XL Recordings) lllll

Dare we conjure the ‘P’ word over Nourished By Time’s second album? The alt R&B singer/songwriter/producer aka Marcus Brown willingly opens the door to Prince comparisons in naming The Passionate Ones as a nod to Purple Rain track ‘The Beautiful Ones’. The title track is pure Prince pop ache, while the loose funk guitar, expansive synth bursts and agonised vocal appeal of opening track ‘Automatic Love’ recalls the Minneapolis maestro’s purplest patch.

Brown is a product of another industrial US city, Baltimore, and aims to represent his working-class background with a mix of grace, beauty, sleaze and sadness. His sound is hard to pin down. Classic influences are tempered by modern production, a broadly soulful canvas is embellished with a vocal which owes as much to drawling indie slackers as it does to retro funkateers. Genres are slung together and somehow stick. ‘Crazy People’, with its mix of shimmering dance track, low-slung funk and wiggy R&B, is not far off George Clinton territory.

Elsewhere, he aces freeform hip hop on ‘Jojo’, with guest Birmingham rapper Tony Bontana, and touches on Italian piano house on soulful club track ‘9 2 5’. There’s no reason with hooks like this that he couldn’t go on to challenge The Weeknd as the don of trippy R&B. Which brings us to another ‘p’ word: potential. Album highlight, ‘Max Potential’, is suitably named: Brown may not be expressing much positivity in the lyrics but its twinkly 80s synth pop, pitch-shifted backing vocals and rock chords tell a different story. (Fiona Shepherd) n Out now.

dop c asts•pod c •stsa

TV of the month

Big Banana Feet captures Billy Connolly onstage and off as he tours Ireland in the 1970s. This longlost film finds the beloved funnyman delivering classic material and deftly dealing with the politics of that time, says Gary Sullivan

Newly restored and enhanced from the sole remaining copy languishing in the Pacific Film Archive, this documentary film of Billy Connolly’s 1975 tour of Ireland gives a raw and intimate look at The Big Yin on the very cusp of worldwide stardom. Thought lost for years, this version was meticulously brought back to life by the BFI’s Douglas Weir and features additional footage previously cut from the original.

Filmed over two days and nights in Dublin and Belfast, it showcases not just the irrepressible comedic talent of Drumchapel’s most famous export but is a fascinating snapshot of Ireland on both sides of their divide at the height of The Troubles. Directors Murray Grigor and David Peat present Connolly using a true fly-on-the-wall sensibility, capturing the essence of his live performance, interspersed with candid behind-thescenes moments, press interviews and PR junkets.

Opening on the Dublin leg of his tour, Connolly touches down aboard a private jet with tour manager and ever-present ‘super roadie’ Billy Johnstone. The initial gush of welcome and bonhomie (‘you’ve got to remember, Billy, we’re all Celts together,’ says one Irish dignitary) plays out over a subtext of curiosity and tacit apprehension about what Connolly has in store for the performances. Within these moments, spiked by grave warnings of danger on the road up north, we get to witness the man’s undeniable superpower; his indestructible ability to charm in any situation and bravely lampoon where others hold their tongue.

The film’s greatest strength is a decision to afford each city equal weight as Dublin is substituted for Belfast at the exact midpoint of its 75-minute run time. The change of both geography and sociopolitical viewpoint provides an interesting parallel with Connolly’s own psyche, as his natural gallusness wrestles with pensive introspection. Lest things get too weighed down, delightful cameos from casual interlopers (almost always carrying a trayful of tea) serves to puncture the hullabaloo and link each scene with affection and warmth.

As you would expect, the comedy, when it comes, is terrific. Material that became a staple in Connolly’s live canon (Glasgow swearing, drunk walk, ‘The Welly Boot Song’) is all here and greeted like an old acquaintance. From this distance, it’s easy to forget Connolly started out as a folk musician who told jokes rather than a bonafide comedian. He bristles at being asked endlessly to describe his act, but his innate love of music is etched into each frame and provides a beguiling soundtrack to the documentary.

Big Banana Feet reaffirms a comedy genius who can relentlessly disarm critics, dodge loaded questions and effortlessly unite a room with laughter. As a piece of social history, it makes Connolly’s ability to do all of the above even more remarkable.

Billy Connolly: Big Banana Feet is available now on BBC iPlayer.

ALBUMS NEWTON FAULKNER

Octopus (Cooking Vinyl)

Prolific indie veteran Newton Faulkner kickstarted the campaign for his latest album in dramatic fashion last November, when he took a pair of clippers to his signature ginger dreadlocks live onstage at a gig in London. A commendable fundraising effort for the Teenage Cancer Trust, Faulkner’s extreme makeover marked the beginning of a new era for the now clean-shaven singer-songwriter, who, freed from the trademark sounds of his past, began looking ahead to his eighth studio album. An ambitious, eclectic project, Octopus blends a multitude of styles and genres, without ever doing any of them particularly well.

It starts off strongly. ‘Alright Alright Alright’, made in collaboration with Ukrainian pop duo Bloom Twins, is a fast-paced introduction, armed with a particularly endearing breakdown in the track’s latter stages. Despite this promising opener, the remainder of the project largely falls flat, at least until singer-songwriter Lissie and Cumbia experts Los Bitchos breathe some much-needed life into peppy pop song ‘Hunting Season’. There are catchy, inoffensive moments on the album, such as ‘Tic Tac Toe’ and ‘Better For Me’, both of which wouldn’t sound too out of place on 6 Music’s C List, though such songs are outnumbered by a glut of padded-out pop filler.

As endearing as the tale of Faulkner’s charitable chop turned sonic reinvention is, evidence here of such a transformation remains scarce. Faulkner is clearly not afraid of trying his hand at multiple genres, but Octopus is hindered by a lack of coherence and consistency. That both the album’s best tracks happen to be the only pair featuring other artists is rather damning, and perhaps indicative of an artist unsure of how he wishes to sound at this point in his career. (Danny Munro)

 Released on Friday 19 September.

TV KING & CONQUEROR (BBC iPlayer)

Imagine you’re a thespian. You’ve bagged a part in a new drama about the Norman Conquest. You’ll finally put your stage combat training to good use. Plenty of opportunities to shout about duty and honour, swear allegiance to god and the king, and chew the scenery to your heart’s content. All such elements are present in King & Conqueror, which traces the paths of Harold Godwinson (James Norton) and William Of Normandy (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) right up to their fateful clash in 1066.

Enthusiasts of the period will be shaking their heads in exasperation: Harold and William’s first meeting is a complete fabrication and, as talented an actor as CosterWaldau may be, he can’t quite pass as the 14-year-old which William would have been when this series begins in 1042. On the other hand, if verisimilitude was creator Michael Robert Johnson’s chief intent, then the Godwinsons would of course be speaking Old English.

No, the show’s real flaw is that it has the airs of a Shakespearean drama without the nuance of the Bard’s language. The actors try their best, particularly Juliet Stevenson as a vicious Emma Of Normandy, but there’s a stiltedness to the dialogue, a heavy-handedness with exposition that a more confident production would avoid. It’s a pity, as no expense has been spared on sets and locations, from the warm, wooded halls of Wessex to the verdant landscapes of England and France. Regardless, for those who love medieval epics, no matter how ahistorical they may be, King & Conqueror delivers bloody fights and political intrigue. (Eve Connor)

 All episodes available now.

Image: Paul Trevor, Anti-racists

PODCASTS TREASURE ISLAND (BBC Sounds)

Gary McNair is probably best known for his ever-expanding canon of self-performed solo stage works. These have largely been personal passion projects, from homages to Morrissey and Billy Connolly, to McNair’s grandad in the recently revived A Gambler’s Guide To Dying. He has also applied his masterly storytelling to new stage versions of classics including Ben Johnson’s The Alchemist and a version of Charles Dickens’ rites of passage novel, Great Expectations, reimagined as Nae Expectations

Rites of passage are here too in McNair’s urgent version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ultimate boy’s-own adventure yarn, stripped down to an hour without losing any of the original’s narrative largesse. McNair sounds both chatty and conspiratorial as cabin boy Jim Hawkins, on the run from his dead dad’s pub and on a mission that sees McNair embody the voices of Billy Bones, Long John Silver and all the rest with an intense sense of unfinished business. Pulsed by Michael John McCarthy’s cracked fiddle-led score, with McCarthy accompanied by Malin Lewis, this makes for a gripping and intimate experience.

McNair, McCarthy, Lewis and director Kirsty Williams did something similar a couple of years back with their Radio 4 version of Robert Burns’ poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’. And McNair has previously plundered Stevenson on stage by way of his one-man Jekyll & Hyde, performed by Forbes Masson.

For a Treasure Island primer, it’s also worth checking out TV producer John Yorke’s 15-minute dissection of Stevenson’s novel in an edition of Radio 4’s bite-size lit crit show, Opening Lines. This sees the likes of Michael Morpurgo and Louise Welsh waxing lyrical on the enduring power of the book. In McNair’s hands, Jim’s quest never stops in a coming-of-age tale where lost father-figures loom large. It’s a bravura turn that brings Stevenson’s story to captivating new life. (Neil Cooper)  Available now.

ALBUMS

JOHNATHAN BLAKE

My Life Matters (Blue Note)



Johnathan Blake didn’t set out to create a 2020s successor to his fellow drummer Max Roach’s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite but My Life Matters has many of the hallmarks of Roach’s civil rights-era classic. There’s a certain noble defiance in much of Blake’s writing and a poignancy which leads to an exultant finale on ‘Requiem For Dreams Shattered’ that gives a sense things can indeed get better.

This is Blake’s third album for Blue Note in a career that has seen this son of the late jazz violinist John Blake working in big bands (his drumming has propelled several Mingus Big Band albums) and small (notably with saxophonist Oliver Lake, the late guitar wonder Russell Malone and recent visitor to Edinburgh, vibist Joe Locke).

His band here is very accomplished. Dayna Stephens makes as strong a case for the EWI synth as has been heard in an age, as well as playing tenor and soprano sax with authority and passion. Jalen Baker’s vibes are consistently expressive, and pianist Fabian Almazan and bassist Dezron Douglas form a muscular rhythm team with an exuberant but neverdomineering Blake.

‘Last Breath’ takes its cue from a 2014 incident in Staten Island when Eric Garner died after being placed in an illegal chokehold by a police officer: it pays dynamic homage. The title track features particularly fine trading of choruses from Baker and Stephens (on EWI), and ‘We’ll Never Know (They Didn’t Even Get To Try)’ is a suitably dignified gospel-flavoured elegy. (Rob Adams)

 Released on Friday 19 September.

OTHER THINGS WORTH STAYING IN FOR

A packed month of things to do indoors or consume on your travels include the deluxe re-release of a classic second album, a pod which celebrates a children’s writer of much renown, and the TV return of a beloved double act

ALBUMS

TERRY HALL

Released in 1997, Laugh was the second solo album from the late Specials/Fun Boy Three leader and featured the likes of Sean O’Hagan and Damon Albarn. It’s now released as a deluxe double vinyl version.

n Dinked, Friday 19 September.

OLIVIA DEAN

Here comes The Art Of Loving, the sophomore release from a Mercury-nominated Londoner who cites Lauryn Hill, Carole King and The Supremes as major influences.

n Capitol Records, Friday 26 September.

BOOKS

PETER ROSS

After Tomb With A View and Steeplechasing, the Glasgow-based journalist and author is now Upon A White Horse, as he undertakes ‘Journeys In Ancient Britain And Ireland’.

n Headline, Thursday 11 September.

GAMES

EA SPORTS FC 26!

The third instalment of this franchise kicks off with a promise of significant innovations in dribbling, positioning and goalkeeping. And there’ll barely be a sheepskin jacket in sight.

n Electronic Arts, Friday 26 September.

LEGO PARTY

With four players and four levels to compete on, you can play against pals while there are also 60 mini-games to have fun with. If you liked Mario Party, you should love this.

n Fictions, Tuesday 30 September.

PODCASTS

JACQUELINE WILSON RAISED US

For a certain generation, the stories of Jacqueline Wilson were a saviour. In this pod series, Scott Bryan chats to those who felt that way including Dani Harmer who was the small-screen Tracy Beaker.

n Episodes available widely.

TV THE PAPER

‘Made’ by the people who filmed the employees of Dunder Mifflin, the camera now picks up the weird idiosyncrasies of newspaper staff played by the likes of Domhnall Gleeson, Sabrina Impacciatore and Tim Key.

n Sky Showcase/Now, Thursday 4 September.

MITCHELL & WEBB ARE NOT HELPING

Back on C4, the comedy duo are reunited and joined by talents such as Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Lara Ricote, Krystal Evans and Stevie Martin for a brandnew sketch affair.

n Channel 4, Friday 5 September.

ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING

And just like that, we’re on season five of the Manhattan-set crime-caper series about three accidental sleuths investigating dodgy stuff where they live. Steve ‘Not Stevie’ Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short look they they’re having a ball.

n Disney+, Tuesday 9 September.

Mitchell & Webb Are Not Helping (and bottom from left), Olivia Dean, EA Sports FC 26!, Upon A White Horse

THE Q& A WITH CONNOR BURNS

With another sold-out Fringe run to his recent credit, Connor Burns embarks on a mammoth UK tour this month with his latest show, Gallus. Before packing his bags, the comedian tackles our no-holds-barred Q&A where he muses on splitting up Ant & Dec, the joys of underfloor heating and destroying his nephew’s dreams

Who would you like to see playing you in the movie about your life?

Jamie Foxx.

Who do you think the casting people would choose? The little animated boy from The Polar Express

What’s the punchline to your favourite joke? ‘Because you’re a cunt’.

If you were to return in a future life as an animal, what would it be? My chihuahua, Pudding. Never been more envious of an animal’s life than hers: true zen.

If you were playing in an escape room, name two other people (well-known or otherwise) you’d recruit to help you get out? Ant (McPartlin) & Dom (Wood) and I’d leave Dick & Dec outside. Just reckon it would be good to see new double acts form. Shake things up a bit.

When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else and what were the circumstances? A guy got all excited in Glasgow and asked for a picture . . . he then said he loved me as Methadone Mick from Still Game

What’s the best cover version ever? White Stripes’ ‘Jolene’: an almost impossible song to cover as Dolly is a living legend, but they manage it.

Whose speaking voice soothes your ears? Arlene from Forth 1. She also happens to be a living legend as well.

Tell us something you wish you had discovered sooner in life? Staying in.

Describe your perfect Saturday evening? Either playing to a packed-out theatre and having a belter of a show or staying in with my fiancée with good takeout food and a bottle of wine, watching a horror film.

If you were a ghost, who would you haunt? My old barber. He’s a nice-enough guy, I just reckon he’d be well confused.

If you could relive any day of your life, which one would it be? Probably one of the days I spent with my fiancée in New Orleans. That city is oozing cool and so is she. Great food, amazing music and a little bit spooky too. Perfect.

What’s your earliest recollection of winning something? Stuck a pound on a raffle at a party when I was about nine or ten. I won £100. Been chasing that high ever since.

Did you have a nickname at school that you were ok with? My middle name is John, so I very briefly got CJ going, which was cool because that was David Spade’s name in 8 Simple Rules, but it never really stuck.

And can you tell us a nickname you hated? Hate is a bit strong but I always got called Burnie Jr because my older brother was the original Burnie: no one loves getting Juniored when you’re at high school.

If you were to start a tribute act to a band or singer, who would it be in tribute to and what would it be called? John Mayer and I’d call myself John Mayer Or Less.

When were you most recently astonished by something? Richard Ashcroft singing ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ with 50,000 singing along. Chills.

What tune do you find it impossible not to get up and dance to, whether in public or private? I’m a very reluctant dancer but ‘September’ by Earth, Wind & Fire is impossible not to dance to.

Which famous person would be your ideal holiday companion? Billy Connolly. I’d just want to hear his travel stories for hours and I reckon you’d get a few freebies if you were with him as he’s pretty internationally loved.

As an adult, what has a child said to you that made a powerful impact? My nephew asked me if he could be a comedian too; that’s pretty cool. I want kids from working-class places to know that the arts is for them too. But no, you can’t be a comedian because that’s my thing.

Tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people? I’m not particularly social. I think in this line of work people assume you’re a social butterfly when actually I’d rather stay in these days.

When did you last cry? At Oasis during ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’. I’d had a few pints and genuinely felt like I was in the middle of a pretty magical moment.

What’s the most hi-tech item in your home? Underfloor heating in the bathroom. Not particularly hi-tech but I’ve never had it in a house until we moved here and it rocks!

What’s a skill you’d love to learn but never got round to? I really want to learn Gaelic.

By decree of your local council, you’ve been ordered to destroy one room in your house and all of its contents. Which room do you choose? WC. Doesn’t have a shower or bath in it, only a toilet and sink. Also ‘water closet’ pisses me off: it’s a jobbie cupboard.

If you were selected as the next 007, where would you pick as your first luxury destination for espionage? Ecclefechan. No reason, it’s just fun to say.

Connor Burns: Gallus, Howden Park Centre, Livingston, Thursday 25 September; Paisley Arts Centre, Friday 10 & Saturday 11 October; Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy, Thursday 16 October; Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, Thursday 30 October; Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Sunday 30 November, Saturday 17 January; full tour details at connor-burns.com

hot shots: music special

1 2 3

Arriving in Edinburgh clutching a trio of Oliviers, Fiddler On The Roof (Festival Theatre, 9–13 September) is a timely work about a community under constant threat. Here it’s an early 20th-century village, Anatevka, with its Jewish inhabitants fearing destruction by Russian forces while domestic affairs are being played out (with comedy). And, of course, there are those songs . . .

Rotherham’s Rebecca Lucy Taylor aka Self Esteem has been storming live stages on her tour of recent album, A Complicated Woman. She launches herself full throttle at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall (16 September) for a show that namechecks everything from Cabaret to The Handmaid’s Tale and even High School Musical Won’t happen here, but Madonna was spotted at one of her recent gigs.

Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre enjoys its big re-opening this month with Small Acts Of Love (9 September–4 October), a play about connections made between Lockerbie residents and families of those who were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over the Scottish town in 1988. Ricky Ross (pictured here with writer Frances Poet) has crafted songs to help create a memorable and moving production.

Gang of 4

contemporary approaches to landscape painting

Jenny Mason Gemma Petrie Adrian Gardner Michael Clarence

6th - 19th September | Wed - Sun (11am - 5pm) | FREE ENTRY

In Vitro Gallery, Summerhall

Student Guide

STUDENT GUIDE CO-EDITORS: Danny Munro, Isy Santini and Rebecca Crockett, with

Ryan Catterson DESIGN: Seonaid Rafferty

Freshers’ Hacks

Oluwatomisin ‘Tom-Tom’ Osinubi, Glasgow Caledonian Students Association president, shares her top tips for making the most of your time as a student in the city

TALK TO LOCALS

Chat with store owners, bus drivers or anyone who knows their way around; locals have the best advice. A quick conversation can lead to helpful tips or even long-term connections. Information is power!

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Where you live has a huge impact on your studies. Don’t settle for bad conditions just

because you’re under pressure. If you’re flat hunting, read up on your rights and ask for help if something doesn’t feel right.

GO GREEN

Glasgow’s green spaces are underrated gems. Go for walks, have a picnic or just sit and recharge. Connecting with nature is great for your mental health and a great way to connect with the city itself.

Whose round is it anyway?

Danny Munro bravely pounds the streets of Glasgow to find the answer to one of the most pressing questions for any new student: where’s the cheapest pint?

With prices rising across the board, it’s comforting to know that you’re never too far from a reasonably priced pint in Glasgow, where students can quite easily enjoy a night out in 2025 while paying prices from the 2010s

One particularly economical haunt is The Howgait. A stone’s throw from Strathclyde University’s campus, its clientele is an intriguing mix of freshfaced students and local East End residents, all of whom enjoy its sprawling beer garden and £2.65 midweek pints in equal measure. Those venturing into the city centre needn’t look any further than The Ark, a solid, allrounder pub capable of serving whatever purpose you need it to. A massive boozer, spread out across two floors and a rather scenic beer garden, The Ark offers students a competitive Monday night quiz, the chance to watch the football and, crucially, pints or spirit/mixer combinations for just £3.50 (Monday to Thursday).

At risk of sounding like a pushy parent, it’s important to line your stomach when guzzling your way around Glasgow’s finest taprooms. Thankfully, all pizzas are half price, seven days a week, for each and every scholar enjoying a drink at Shilling Brewery on West George Street, a rather upmarket watering hole where students can still pick up a pint for £3.80 (Sunday to Thursday). West End dwellers can take advantage of a similar offer at The Record Factory, where £2 pizza slices can be washed down with £5 draught cocktails or £3 pints from the comfort of a consistently well-soundtracked beer garden.

If you’re looking to find your new favourite band without splurging all of your SAAS, stay west for The Hug And Pint, an intimate venue on Great Western Road with a busy gig schedule, where Margaritas, Espresso Martinis and Aperol Spritz will set you back just £5, no matter which day of the week.

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Loud and proud

From books to beats, Ryan Catterson brings you his guide to finding your queer tribe in Glasgow

Finding yourself is part of the deal when you start university, and that includes finding your people and the places where you feel at home. For queer students arriving in Glasgow, the city has lots of options, whether you’re looking for a big night out or something more low-key.

Plenty of the city’s best venues aren’t explicitly queer, but they’re often spaces that regularly host queer nights, gigs and fundraisers, or are just known for being inclusive and welcoming. Bloc+ is a great place to start: a relaxed citycentre bar with live music and cheap drinks, and food that certainly won’t break the bank. Just up the road, Nice N Sleazy is the dive bar you’ll end up in sooner or later. It’s sweaty, loud and reliably fun, great for a few drinks or a full night out-out. Speakeasy, tucked away in Merchant City, is a more intimate spot with booths, DJs and the occasional drag night, regularly hosted by Glasgow icon Miss Bella Houston.

Star Student

Leah Byrne, actress

Stereo, just behind Central Station, combines gigs, club nights and vegan food, all in a repurposed industrial building. And if you’re after something more traditionally ‘scene’, Katie’s Bar in Merchant City is one of the city’s explicitly gay bars, with drag shows, karaoke and a feeling that it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Of course, not everything needs to revolve around drinking. Over in the Southside, Category Is Books is Scotland’s only remaining queer bookshop, a small but vibrant space hosting readings, workshops and craft nights. Nearby, Glasgow Zine Library is a welcoming spot where you can join talks, get stuck into zine-making workshops and take part in all kinds of creative events (many with a focus on queer stories and community).

Whether it’s a night out, a space to create, or a community to tap into, this city has something to offer. As they say, people make Glasgow; and they don’t bite (usually).

Getting into the BA Acting course at the Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland had been my dream since I was young, so receiving my acceptance email in 2016 felt like a moment of pure pride, like I’d made wee Leah proud. My three years there were filled with creativity, laughter and a deep sense of safety, everything an actor needs to truly grow. Most importantly, I met some of the best friends I’ve ever had and I don’t think I’d be where I am today without them. I graduated six years ago, but those days of rehearsing and playing still feel as vivid as ever.

Glasgow

Left to right: Speakeasy, Nice N Sleazy, Category Is Books

LWhether you’re a fun-gi or a fibre fiend, Glasgow has an obscure student society just for you, says Danny Munro

Odd socs

ocated within every university’s student union is a collection of societies, groups of like-minded people bound together by one particular passion, hobby or interest. And it’s hard to believe just how niche some of them really are.

Glasgow University boasts a particularly eccentric range, covering everything from opera to orienteering. For fans of esoteric TV series from days gone by with cult followings, GU students have the chance to join both the Twin Peaks and Peep Show societies. Each of these zany groups are free to become part of and hold viewing parties, as well as regular social activities, giving you the opportunity to find new companions who can quote every line of your favourite episodes.

Green-fingered GU students may have their interests piqued by the Mycology Society, a group who aim to ‘spark or help maintain an interest in mushrooms and fungi’. The mycology gang go foraging, host dinners, run educational fungi-oriented workshops and, judging by their Instagram, have a lot of fun doing so. Over at Glasgow Caledonian, those passionate about broths should look no further than the Soup Society. Needless to say, it covers all things from bisque to bouillon, but they go on plenty of non-soup related excursions too, regularly leaving their spoons at home and hitting the town for karaoke, games nights and pub quizzes, often with a can of Heinz in hand

Finally, Strathclyde University-goers with a keen eye for mending should give Abercrombie & Stitch a go. A society dedicated to fibre arts, they meet every Thursday afternoon and get stuck into knitting, crocheting, crossstitching and embroidery. It’s open to all levels of expertise and sounds like a perfect way to wind down from your studies, or recover from a big night out.

Advice shop

Many years from now, you’ll likely look back on your university days and feel the warm, fuzzy glow of nostalgia, as you blissfully reminisce over the slept-through lectures, the misspent school nights in sticky pubs and the ever-so-slightly overdrawn student bank account. But it’s easy to forget how stressful student life can be sometimes, and the importance of taking care of yourself during your studies can’t be understated.

If things are starting to feel like too much to handle, consider reaching out to a student wellbeing helpline; every university and college in Glasgow has one. Your institution will also offer financial advice to those who require it, and if you are feeling unsafe around somebody on campus, don’t hesitate to reach out to campus security

LGBTQ+ students can access LGBT Youth Scotland’s live chat service (lgbtyouth.org.uk/get-support/live-chat) from 4–8pm Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, and the Sandyford Sexual Health Clinic (sandyford.scot) offer a comprehensive list of vital services including, but not limited to, emergency contraception, STI testing and PrEP appointments. Glasgow And Clyde Rape Crisis (glasgowclyderapecrisis.org.uk) have helplines both in Glasgow and nationwide for those in need of support regarding sexual assault. With You (wearewithyou.org.uk/advice-and-information) provides free support for anyone struggling with substance issues, be it drugs or alcohol. Should you ever find yourself alone on a night out, Strut Safe (0333 335 0026) is a free, UK-wide helpline that operates through to the wee hours every weekend and will stay on the line with you until you make it to your door.

Soup Society

Let’s get physical

Danny Munro explores some of the best ways for students to get active and keep fit in Glasgow, whether you’re a team player or a bit of a lone wolf

Two’s company

Glasgow Climbing Centre

Location: 534 Paisley Road West | Price: Off-peak £10.70, peak £11.70 (peak prices after 4pm during the week, all day at weekends) An inherently collaborative activity, climbing is the perfect way to bridge any awkward gaps between new friends, binding you together as you work with one another to plan your next route. Open seven days a week and routinely revamping their walls, Glasgow Climbing Centre is the ideal location for exercising with a pal.

Squad goals

Power League 5-a-side football

Location: 1 Kennedy Street | Price: £4–£7 per game

It’s certainly not reinventing the wheel, but Power League Townhead plays host to multiple student leagues throughout the academic year, and you can even stick around for a post-match pint if you fancy.

Going solo

Nextbike

Location: Across the city | Price: Free annual membership granting unlimited 60-minute bike rentals for Glasgow University students, £20 annual membership for Strathclyde students

Dotted around the city and ready to go when you are, Nextbike offers Glasgow and Strathclyde University students a cheap and healthy way to get from A to B: just remember that The List’s Student Guide told you to always wear a helmet.

In the running

Victoria Parkrun

Location: Victoria Park | Price: Free

Though the thought of running a 5K in public surrounded by hundreds of strangers may sound daunting, an overpowering natural high and a sense of accomplishment lay in wait at the finish line for any student who can face dragging themselves to Victoria Park for half nine on a Saturday morning.

Holding court

Racquetball

Location: Stevenson Building, 77 Oakfield Avenue | Price: £3 for Glasgow Uni sport members, £5 for non-members (45 mins)

A more accessible take on squash, racquetball is the perfect way to release exam-related stress, and it’s available to all at a pleasantly affordable rate on the Glasgow University campus.

Hot Shot the necropolis

On a steep hill a stone’s throw away from Strathclyde University halls, The Necropolis is a 200-year-old cemetery with beautifully bleak gothic architecture. Panoramic views stretch for miles beyond the city, making it the perfect setting for clearing your head or scrambling up to watch the sunrise: just remember to bring a pal if it’s dark.

Now studying for a PhD in Astrophysics, Lucy Arditi came to Edinburgh as an undergraduate in 2017. With eight years of student wisdom under her belt, here are her top tips for making the most of your time at uni

LET LOOSE

When I first started in Edinburgh, I wish someone had told me how much freedom I had. This is the time to try out new things, join random societies, get to know different people. You don’t need to stick to anything you don’t enjoy.

GO EXPLORING

Visit the museums and galleries (£25 will get you a year’s free entry to every exhibition at the National Galleries), explore the green spaces, and browse

all the independent cafés and shops (always ask if there’s a student discount). Remember too, that the whole of Scotland is on your doorstep.

BALANCING ACT

The important thing is to find balance. Take advantage of the contact hours given to you, engage in tutorials and workshops, but make sure you’re making time to enjoy your life outside of studies. And remember: umbrellas are useless here, and never, ever, ever pay for Hive.

Freshers’ Hacks Eats Cheap

No matter how many times you commit to making packed lunches and cooking all your own food, it never quite works out. Thankfully, there are plenty of places in Edinburgh you can grab a quick meal without breaking the bank.

There’s lots for veggies and vegans. If you’re looking for something nutritious and warming, Union Of Genius is a great, cheap lunch option. A soup café with a different menu every day, their various options are packed with veg and gluten-free bread is available. For those who love Asian food, Himalaya Café caters to all tastes. It was opened by Edinburgh-resident Reka after a meeting with the Dalai Lama. The food is hearty and cheap, and with its suspended meals scheme (a pay-it-forward initiative to feed homeless people), the café

is more than just a place to grab lunch; it’s a pillar of the community. If you’re rushing off to that next lecture and don’t have time for a sitdown meal, The Piemaker is perfect. Grab a pie (sweet or savoury) or one of their other snacks for just a few pounds and enjoy it on the move. Conversely, for those days where you want to treat yourself, try Chez Jules. Despite achieving TikTok virality, their set-menu deal is as good as ever. For only £15.90, you can enjoy three courses: get the classic steak frîtes or maybe some steamed mussels.

For dinner, it’s hard to beat The Blackbird in Bruntsfield. Whether dining with friends or preparing for a night on the town, take advantage of their 20% student discount and order takeaway-style spice bags or just a nice juicy burger.

TEAM

Go Your Own Way

What student society should you join?

RELAXED

Are you more relaxed or active?

Do you prefer working in a team or on your own?

ON YOUR OWN

Are you creative or do you prefer to enjoy the creations of others?

CRAFTING

One of the best ways to feel good is to make something. Try QMU’s costume society, Napier’s fibre-arts society or Edinburgh Uni’s craft and sewing society.

TTRPG

What better way to make new friends than slaying dragons and casting fireballs? Give one of the many TTRPG (that’s Tabletop Role-Playing Game) societies a go.

FILM

Sometimes it’s nice to just have a movie night to look forward to. Join a film club, or why not try Edinburgh Uni’s bad-film society and laugh at the worst cinema has to offer?

Star Student

Ruaridh Mollica, actor and writer

ACTIVE

Are you outdoorsy or indoorsy?

OUTDOORSY

Are you competitive?

YES

SPORT

NO

There’s a huge variety of sports clubs at Edinburgh’s unis. Take up tennis, football, volleyball . . . or all of the above!

Hiking

Get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. QMU’s adventure society and Edinburgh Uni’s hillwalking club both organise hikes in Scotland’s beautiful countryside.

How would you describe your time at Heriot-Watt? Absolutely brilliant! I met amazing friends and learned so much about myself and how to live independently.

Do you have any favourite memories from your time there? Living in halls during a huge snow storm was so much fun. Me and some of my friends in the snowsports society put on skis and built a jump behind the library.

What advice would you give to current or incoming

students? Get stuck in, have fun, join societies. Find joy in your work. But also, know that life is a funny and changing thing. I thought I was going to do Computer Science!

Campaign

Have an issue that’s close to your heart? Join a campaign group and build a better world, whether that’s Student Action For Refugees or your university’s feminist society.

On the town

SDitch the study and get your glad rags on as Isy Santini rounds up some of the best regular club nights for Edinburgh students

o you’ve got a group of fabulous people around you, you’re all dressed up, you’ve had some pre-drinks, and now it’s off to the club. The only question is . . . where? If you appreciate good music but like a little bit of everything, Alien Disko every other Friday night at The Bongo Club might be the one for you. Though they specialise in rave, this multi-genre Scottish collective is pretty eclectic and it’s always guaranteed to go hard. Or try Samedia Shebeen, a club night and travelling venue which mixes tropical and world sounds to create the warmest, most uplifting vibes.

Prefer something a bit more old-school? Soul Jam is Sneaky Pete’s longest-running disco party on the last Saturday of every month, with DJs Tuesday Gonzalez and Percy Main: expect disco, funk and house. And if your favourite accessory

is nostalgia goggles, you’ll feel right at home at La Belle Angele’s Decade Club Night, playing hits from years gone by, with regular themed events including nights dedicated to the likes of Shrek and Disney.

Sometimes, though, a big wedge of mainstream escapism is what you need, served up every Saturday at Potterrow by Big Cheese, perhaps the most iconic student club night in Edinburgh. With a playlist chock-full of classics (even those you don’t want to admit you like), you can dance the night away belting out ‘Mr Brightside’ with your besties and reaching for the stars. Or for a queer night out, give Tracks a go on Mondays at Subway. It’s one of Edinburgh’s most popular drag shows and a great way to connect with other LGBTQ+ people in the city.

Starting university is exciting, but it can also be difficult. From academic stress to financial woes, there’s a lot to balance and sometimes we all need a little bit of help. Edinburgh’s universities each offer their own counselling service to support you throughout your studies, and both the University Of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier offer mindfulness sessions aimed at reducing anxiety and stress. You can also turn to the multi-faith chaplaincy at your university, which provides personal and emotional support to people of all religions and backgrounds with a commitment not to proselytise. Plus, keep an eye out for one-off wellbeing events throughout the semester.

There’s a wide variety of academic support available as well. Reach out to your university’s academic advisers or for general academic improvement, check out their skills workshops Heriot-Watt also has a team of student success advisors made up of recent graduates who know exactly what you’re going through. If your problems are more material, don’t worry. Queen Margaret University’s Students’ Union runs a food pantry for struggling students where you can receive nutritious and filling food for £1 per week, and all of Edinburgh’s universities have a range of bursaries. Don’t forget that some students are also eligible for Universal Credit, so it’s always worth checking.

Advice shop

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Staff redundancies are on the horizon as Edinburgh Uni tries to save millions of pounds. With industrial action looming, Sophia Woodman from the University And College Union urges students to join their fight against the cuts

Earlier this year, the University Of Edinburgh proposed to cut £140m from its budget, with much of that coming from staffing. Many have already taken voluntary redundancy, with management refusing to rule out compulsory redundancies. In response to this, the University And College Union (UCU) have voted to strike during this year’s Welcome Week (Monday 8–Friday 12 September). This comes after the university senate passed a vote of no confidence in management’s plan. ‘Nobody takes it lightly,’ says Sophia Woodman, UCU branch president. ‘We hope students will understand that we really care about the education and support provided to them, and that is why we’re going on strike.’

Many of the most vulnerable staff will be those hit hardest by the cuts, such as those on guaranteed-hours contracts who are often PhD students funding their studies. Even those who can afford to

a disproportionate amount of the savings to cutting staff as opposed to finding those savings from other areas,’ says Woodman. She points to capital expenditure as something that could be reduced. ‘Management has overextended itself in terms of capital spending and there have often been cost overruns. One of the reasons we’re in this position is poor management and bad planning.’ She also criticises management’s lack of attempts to negotiate, claiming they have refused to reopen the financial proposals.

Woodman warns that the proposed level of cuts to staffing could have disastrous effects on both students’ education as well as the quality of research produced at the university. ‘We don’t think that the same quality of teaching and support can be provided with fewer staff who are stressed out and having to take on more work.’ It may be a dispute between staff and management, but students can

Striking a blow

Hot Shot

EDINBURGH CASTLE

Perched atop a volcanic rock, Edinburgh Castle has overlooked the city for a millennium. Take a stroll through beautiful Princes Street Gardens for the best views of its majestic outline, but best not get too close: legend has it that any student who visits the castle will fail their exams!

HOBBY: EUROPA MUSIC

First-time buyer or album aficionado? Whichever way you identify, Europa Music has been the place to fall in love with vinyl since 1992. The largest vinyl store in Scotland keeps its stock diverse and its prices reasonable.

EATING: SOUPERB

It can be hard to balance eating well while keeping your purse feeling full. At Souperb, get a nourishing bowl for just £2.95 along with the fluffiest sourdough rolls. Not bad for some pocket change!

Freshers’ Hacks

Fourth-year Journalism Studies student Alex Paterson shares her top three pieces of advice for making the most of your first year at Stirling University

ASK QUESTIONS

During your first weeks at university, so much information is chucked your way that it’s almost impossible to retain all the details. Whether you’re clarifying the name of someone in your class or wondering how to check a book out of the library, ask the question. You’ll soon learn that everyone is happy to help.

LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF

What foods bring you nutritional comfort? What’s the best way for you to study? What brings you joy and

COFFEE: WHITE DOVE COFFEE ROASTERS

what brings you unhappiness? By knowing what makes you tick, you can help yourself stay on the right track mentally, physically and academically.

BE FRIENDLY

The best way to find a solid group of friends to see you through the many all-nighters is by being friendly to everyone. While not everyone will match your personality, being kind to your peers sets you off on the right foot to find life-long friendships.

Stirling

What is better than a 10% discount? Maybe a 20% discount before 10am. White Dove over on Port Street is the perfect pit-stop before those dreaded early-morning lectures.

Bargain Hunt

Rebecca Crockett brings you her handy guide to doing Stirling on the cheap

CLOTHES SHOPPING: SRTD VINTAGE

Tucked into Stirling Arcade, SRTD is a hidden delight of the city’s vintage scene. Owner Sophie Corbett has curated a unique collection which doesn’t force you to pick between affordability and sustainability.

DAY-OUT: PIOTSA

Piotsa opened in May to rave reviews, and now customers can learn the secret to making the perfect Neapolitan pizza. For £25, you can stretch Piotsa’s signature dough, add your favourite toppings and enjoy an authentic Italian meal.

NIGHT OUT: JESSICA O’MARLEYS

No student city is complete without a thriving Irish pub, and Jessica O’Marleys doesn’t disappoint. Every week, enjoy live music, £6 cocktail deals and a pub quiz to keep you guessing.

There’s an assumption that once you reach university, all previous problems with fitting in will disappear. But what if the sea of potential societies and sports teams doesn’t resonate? When Stirling graduates Ginebra Lavao and Ype Zaal first came to the city and experienced trad music sessions, they realised there was an issue: they couldn’t see themselves represented.

Stirling Different strokes

Reflecting on the age of people attending the sessions, Lavao says: ‘Ype and I were panicking because we would go but could see that in ten, 20 years, there might not be anyone here. Who was going to be responsible for this? Because it’s a beautiful thing.’ Their solution was to form the Stirling Youth Folk Club. What began as an interest shared by two people almost five years ago has now evolved into an estimated 60 musicians, a regular trad session and a ceilidh band.

While it started as a mission to keep traditional folk music

alive, it has also become an important space for new and experienced players to get in touch with their cultural roots.

‘We’re a globalised society and we might look a lot the same,’ says Lavao. ‘So, we have to start thinking, “what makes a Spanish person a Spanish person?” Or “what makes an Italian an Italian?” You have to start dwelling on cultural identity and heritage. I think a lot of us had to discover what songs from our country we could show others.’

The lesson here is obvious: if you can’t find the community you’re looking for, create it yourself. That can be easier said than done, but Lavao has plenty of helpful advice. ’Talk to everyone. Bring the issue up. You might think that you’re really weird for liking this or whatnot,’ she says. ‘But a lot of people might also be waiting for someone else who shares the same interest, or they might not even know that they have that interest yet.’

Star Student

Iona Brownlie, STV News journalist

My time at university was a mixed bag. I had two years of normal uni life before covid happened and everything was moved online, including socialising. Aside from that, I loved my time there, especially being a member of Brig Newspaper. Joining in second year, becoming news editor and eventually taking on editor-in-chief was one of the best parts of that life. My favourite memory was sitting in my living room winning Scottish Student Publication Of The Year 2021/2022. Stirling is a unique experience; from the all-on-campus environment to the classic Fubar Wednesdays, it’s a truly special time.

Hot Shot

Forging links with like-minded people at uni isn’t always easy. Ginebra Lavao tells Rebecca Crockett how she and fellow graduate Ype Zaal created Stirling Youth Folk Club when they couldn’t find the community they were looking for

Wallace Monument

Often called the gateway to the Highlands, Stirling has witnessed many famous battles. Most notably, Scottish folk hero William Wallace led his troops to victory at the Battle Of Stirling Bridge. However, did you know the monument erected to commemorate his achievements wasn’t built until 572 years after his success?

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